Effectiveness of Interprofessional Education Based on the Case-and Communication-Based Approach

Pharmacology role-playing, which follows a case and communication (C & C)-based approach, has been developed for use in medical education, and its learning effects have been reported. To cultivate team spirit among medical professionals from an early stage, we proposed developing the C & C approach for interprofessional education (IPE). Therefore, this study aimed to examine the learning effects of the C & C approach during joint classes of medical and nursing students. In December 2017, we employed the C & C approach to simulate a scenario in which drugs were explained to patients, and responses were collected from 103/115 medical (90%) and 55/60 nursing students (92%). The questionnaires used were designed to evaluate the following five items: understanding pharmacotherapy, understanding patients’ feelings, learning motivation, change in learning attitudes, and understanding IPE. Open-ended questions on learning content were analyzed based on free-text responses. Each student group acknowledged the effectiveness of the approach and the importance of cooperation. In total, 80.2% of medical students and 76.3% of nursing rated “understanding of IPE” as “very effective/effective.” Participants learned about the disparity in perspectives, with medical students gaining insight into nursing students’ approaches to patient interactions, and nursing students acquiring an understanding of doctors’ perspectives on disease and medical treatment. In conclusion, the C & C approach proved beneficial as an IPE method, raising awareness among both nursing and medical students about the significance of communication skills and patient perspectives.