Interprofessional Education themes in a Clinical Laboratory Sciences Curriculum

Abstract

The purpose of this exploratory case study was to explore and describe how clinical laboratory science students at a tertiary university hospital perceive and conceptualize interprofessional education (IPE) through exposure to IPE in clinical preceptorship and service learning experiences. Participants included five clinical laboratory science students. The data collection and analysis process included multiple interviews, student clinical preceptorship journals, student service learning journals, and a researcher's journal. The constant comparison method was used throughout the study as themes and patterns emerged from the raw data and were discovered.1 Findings indicated that participants believed that IPE helped reduce professional hierarchy, promoted equality and respect and maximized interprofessional collaboration between the health professions. Themes that supported IPE were comprised of: hierarchal environment, mutual respect, forming and maintaining an identity, and sharing content knowledge. The results from this study reveal how an interprofessional curriculum can unite clinical laboratory science students with other health professions students early in their formative years to address the inefficiencies and ineffectiveness of a disjointed health care team that negatively affects health care in the United States today. ABBREVIATIONS: WHO – World Health Organization, CLS – Clinical Laboratory Science, IPE – Interprofessional Education