Impacts of interprofessional simulation on affective learning among medical students: Qualitative analysis from the CLEIMS study.

Abstract

1. Presentation Title Impacts of interprofessional simulation on affective learning among medical students: Qualitative analysis from the CLEIMS study. 2. Background Studies have found Australian medical graduates to be poorly equipped to prescribe, raising concerns about patient safety. The CLEIMS randomised study of extended immersion in practice simulation (including an interprofessional component with pharmacy students), presented at last year’s conference, demonstrated persistent positive impact on medical students’ prescribing skills. During the study, students kept textual journals to support reflection on their experience. 3. Methods of Research Reflective journals from both arms of the study were analysed using a phenomenological approach to identify the impact of the interprofessional simulation on learning in the affective domain. The Krathwohl taxonomy was used to classify the level of affective learning described. 4. Results of Research Students in the intervention arm, who undertook the simulation in addition to conventional workshops, but not their control counterparts, showed evidence of affective learning at high Krathwohl levels (4 & 5). For example, one participant reflected that they were ‘disappointed to discover that we had neglected to check for drug interactions’ which caused an adverse event for the simulated patient, noting that they ‘found it useful to discuss this error with the [student] pharmacists ... Following on from today I am going to ensure that I am extra precautious with my prescribing and use appropriate resources to check contraindications and interactions’. 5. Conclusions Phenomenological analysis of participant journals in a randomised educational trial provided a useful method for identifying learning in the affective domain. Participants in the simulation arm, but not those in the control arm, showed clear evidence of significant affective learning in relation to prescribing and collaboration with pharmacy colleagues.