Improve with improv: Developing interprofessional communication skills in health professions students

Introduction

Communication is a core element of the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) competencies. Despite that, there is insufficient guidance on how to instruct aspiring healthcare providers with essential knowledge for effective communication. Medical improv techniques offer a promising experiential framework to promote flexible, patient-centered communication that is vital for interprofessional collaboration in various healthcare settings.

Methods

114 health professions students from 11 disciplines participated in a 60-min interprofessional case conference. Students were randomly assigned to mixed groups of 8–10 peers, ensuring that multiple professions were represented in each group. Students completed improv exercises after faculty facilitators provided guidance for each improv principle being applied. After the seminar, participants were asked to complete a standardized evaluation of the activity and invited to participate in a supplemental survey to gauge their overall perceptions of the learning experience, which included 10 questions rated on a 5-point Likert scale and one open-ended question.

Results

The standardized evaluation was completed by 63 students, while 16 students representing seven unique healthcare disciplines completed the supplemental survey. Participants reported strong agreement that the activities fostered a sense of community and supported skill development, though fewer agreed that the session enhanced their understanding of other professions' roles. Free-text responses were generally positive in nature.

Discussion

Medical improv offers a framework to promote communication among healthcare providers in training, and may be underutilized in healthcare training pedagogy despite its established benefits. Although the outcomes of this study did seem to yield positive benefits for members of seven distinct disciplines, future investigations should examine medical improv against other communication frameworks and utilize a larger sample size to generate more definitive recommendations.