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Multicenter Study
. 2017 Aug;32(8):871-876.
doi: 10.1007/s11606-017-4004-3. Epub 2017 Mar 10.

Interprofessional Education in the Internal Medicine Clerkship Post-LCME Standard Issuance: Results of a National Survey

Irene Alexandraki  1   2 , Caridad A Hernandez  3 , Dario M Torre  4 , Katherine C Chretien  5
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Interprofessional Education in the Internal Medicine Clerkship Post-LCME Standard Issuance: Results of a National Survey

Irene Alexandraki et al. J Gen Intern Med. 2017 Aug.

Abstract

Background: Several decades of work have detailed the value and goals of interprofessional education (IPE) within the health professions, defining IPE competencies and best practices. In 2013, the Liaison Committee for Medical Education (LCME) elevated IPE to a U.S. medical school accreditation standard.

Objective: To examine the status of IPE within internal medicine (IM) clerkships including perspectives, curricular content, barriers, and assessment a year after the LCME standard issuance.

Design: Anonymous online survey.

Participants: IM clerkship directors from each of the Clerkship Directors in Internal Medicine's 121 U.S. and Canadian member medical schools in 2014.

Methods: In 2014, a section on IPE (18 items) was included in the Clerkship Directors in Internal Medicine annual survey of its 121 U.S. and Canadian member medical schools.

Main measures: Items (18) assessed clerkship director (CD) perspectives, status of IPE curricula in IM clerkships, and barriers to IPE implementation. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and qualitative analysis of free-text responses to one of the survey questions.

Key results: The overall survey response rate was 78% (94/121). The majority (88%) agreed that IPE is important to the practice of IM, and 71% believed IPE should be part of the IM clerkship. Most (76%) CDs agreed there is need for faculty development programs in IPE; 27% had such a program at their institution. Lack of curricular time, scheduling conflicts, and lack of faculty trained in IPE were the most frequently cited barriers. Twenty-nine percent had formal IPE activities within their IM clerkships, and 38% were planning to make changes. Of those with formal IPE activities, over a third (37%) did not involve student assessment.

Conclusions: Since LCME standard issuance, only a minority of IM clerkships have included formal IPE activities, with lectures as the predominant method. Opportunities exist for enhancing educational methods as well as IPE faculty development.

Keywords: interprofessional education; medical education; undergraduate medical education.

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Conflict of interest statement

Funders

None.

Prior Presentations

This work was presented at the plenary session at the Academic Internal Medicine Week 2015 meeting of the Clerkship Directors in Internal Medicine and the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine in Atlanta, GA.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they do not have a conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
When IPE is taught across the medical school curricula at 60 responding US medical schools (not shown: 3% occurring in preclinical and sub-internship years).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Non-physicians who teach IPE in the internal medicine clerkships with formal IPE curricula.
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References

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