Interprofessional education of final-year medical students and trainee anaesthesia assistants (IPAPA) - a project report on an interprofessional training sequence on induction of anaesthesia.

Abstract

Introduction: Interprofessional collaboration is considered a key determinant of patient care quality and safety, yet it remains only partially embedded in the curricula of healthcare professions. The IPAPA project, developed at the University Hospital Bonn, addresses this gap through the design of a simulation-based interprofessional training programme for final-year medical students in their elective anaesthesiology rotation and trainee anaesthesia assistants, based on the evidence-informed TeamSTEPPS^® programme.

Objective: This project report aims to describe the curricular development, implementation, and instructional design of the IPAPA teaching concept and to contextualise initial experiences from the accompanying evaluation.

Methods: The teaching intervention was developed in accordance with Kern's six-step approach to curriculum development. Interprofessional learning objectives were derived from the National Competence-Based Learning Objectives Catalogue for Medicine and the German training and examination regulations for anaesthesia assistants and operating theatre technicians (ATA-OTA-APrV), and translated into an adapted TeamSTEPPS^® 3.0-based teaching and learning concept with simulation-based components. Implementation was complemented by an accompanying evaluation.

Results: The IPAPA concept, comprising eight teaching units, was integrated as a mandatory course into both the final-year elective rotation in anaesthesiology and the training programme for trainee anaesthesia assistants. Initial qualitative feedback from participants suggests high acceptance of the format, particularly with regard to the practical simulations and the structured interprofessional communication. Joint participation of both professional groups was described as realistic and conducive to mutual role understanding.

Conclusion: This project report illustrates how an interprofessional, simulation-based team training programme can be developed and implemented within an anaesthesiology training context. IPAPA thus contributes to the structured integration of interprofessional teaching formats and may serve as a model for comparable educational settings.