A scoping review exploring student perspective of inter-professional education practice placements.

Background: The current health service reform highlights the need for multidisciplinary team work and collaborative practice to be central to health care reform. Inter-professional education (IPE) is limited in Ireland and professional accrediting bodies increasingly require evidence that IPE is embedded within pre-qualification health care programmes. Objectives: To explore student perspective of inter-professional education practice placements (IPEPP) and to determine the enablers and barriers to successful team functioning. Methods: A scoping review guided by Arksey and O’Malley (2005) was used as a methodological framework. 29 databases were searched, 836 articles were reviewed. The inclusion criteria included; articles published in English, peer reviewed journals, empirical studies and studies reporting on the student perspective of IPEPP who experienced full placement blocks. A total of 9 articles were included in this study. Results: The main enablers that facilitate successful IPEPP are collaborative teamwork and a positive learning environment. The main barriers identified include competency standard discrepancies, contrasting facilitator support, and timetabling and shift incompatibilities. Conclusion: Students recognised the need for structuring timetabling within a placement to allow for attendance at practical clinical experiences, one of the main facilitators to collaborative teamwork. The variation of facilitator styles added uncertainty to student learning and professional identity and it is therefore recommended that a structured and more organised model of facilitator support be in place. Competency standards should also ascertain one set of learning objectives, while student preparation is necessary to address placement expectations and support a more inclusive team based approach to professional development.