Pharmacy Relative to Other Health Professions in Interprofessional Education: A Bibliometric Study

Abstract

Using a bibliometric method, this study assessed global educational research output on interprofessional education (IPE) and contributions from pharmacy relative to other healthcare academic programs, such as nursing, over the last 20 years. The Web of Science database was searched for articles published between 1998 and 2018. In addition, PubMed and the journals the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning, and INNOVATIONS in pharmacy were searched. Data were retrieved on January 31, 2019 and systematic content analysis method was used. Number of publications, citations, H-index, and scope of IPE research including IPE settings, IPE curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment methods was recorded. A total of 1693 references were retrieved that met the inclusion criteria. From the review of the literature, it was plausible to assume that the number of publications increased exponentially from 2010 to 2017. The results indicated that the top 5 healthcare disciplines contributing to the IPE literature included: medicine (41.2%), nursing (36.2%), pharmacy (9.0%), dentistry (8.2%), occupational therapy (5.6%), and physical therapy (4.6%). A total of 295 journals published IPE-related articles. The Journal of Interprofessional Care published a total of 566 articles, accounting for 33% of all published articles. In addition, a total of 66 countries contributed to IPE publications. The top 4 countries publishing in the area of IPE were the United States (27%), Canada (17.5%), the United Kingdom (16.1%), and Australia (10.2%). The content analysis of the articles identified diverse IPE settings, pedagogical methods, and assessments as major areas of IPE research.

Keywords: assessment; bibliometric method; curriculum; interprofessional education; medical; nursing; pharmacy.