(146) Utilization of Postgraduate Pharmacy Residents and Fellows as Facilitators in Interprofessional Education

Primary Author(s)

Christopher Osiel Hernandez, PharmD, BCACP (he/him/his)

Assistant Professor - Practice
The Ohio State University
Columbus, Ohio, United States

Co-Author(s)

JS

Jennifer Seifert, MS, RPh, BCGP

Residency Program Director, PGY1 Community-based Program
The Ohio State University
Columbus, OH, United States
AV

Alexa Valentino, PharmD, MBA, BCACP, FAPhA, FNAP

Associate Professor of Clinical Pharmacy; Director of the BuckIPE Curriculum
The Ohio State University, United States

Objective : Pharmacy trainees, such as residents and fellows, provide didactic education throughout their training, which includes interprofessional facilitation (IPF). Interprofessional education (IPE) is included in the ACPE 2016 standards for PharmD programs. At Ohio State, the health science colleges typically utilize faculty and staff as facilitators in the IPE curriculum, but the College of Pharmacy also includes trainees. Utilizing trainees helps reduce faculty workload while having the potential to serve as a valuable, unique teaching experience. We designed a quality improvement initiative to assess pharmacy trainees' skills to facilitate IPE, understand successes and opportunities for improvement, and explore trainees' perspectives on the value of IPF.

Methods: In April 2023, a Qualtrics survey was sent to 11 pharmacy trainees with a teaching assignment in the IPE curriculum. The survey contained 20 questions, 18 of which were from the Interprofessional Facilitation Scale (IPFS), designed to evaluate factors critical to facilitating successful IPE, and two de-novo questions designed to generate discussion. Following the survey, trainees were invited to attend an in-person focus group. The survey results were used to create questions for further clarification in the focus group.

Results: After completing their facilitation assignments, trainees perceived they were good or excellent at IPF skills. Areas of success were the quality of the facilitator training before their first session, the ability to co-facilitate with faculty members in different professions, and continuing to advance their own understanding of other professions’ roles.

Conclusions: Pharmacy residents and fellows are capable IPE facilitators. Trainees' perception of IPF is positive, offering a unique teaching experience for those interested in facilitation. Our data supports the utilization of trainees as IPE facilitators alongside faculty and staff.