Journal of interprofessional care
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The objective of our study was to propose an innovative applied health undergraduate curriculum model that uses simulation and interprofessional education to facilitate students' integration of both technical and "humanistic" core skills. The model incorporates assessment of student readiness for clinical education and readiness for professional practice in a collaborative, team-based, patient-centred environment. Improving the education of health care professionals is a critical contributor to ultimately improving patient care and outcomes. ⋯ Construct validation of clinical readiness will continue through primary research at The Michener Institute for Applied Health Sciences. As the new educational model is implemented, its impact will be assessed and documented using specific outcomes measurements. Appropriate modifications to the model will be made to ensure improvement and further applicability to an undergraduate medical curriculum.
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To understand trends in emergency medicine and interprofessional roles in delivering this care, we analyzed a 10-year period (1995-2004) by provider, patient characteristics, and diagnoses. The focus was on how doctors, physician assistants (PAs) and nurse practitioners (NPs) share emergency medicine visits. The National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey of over 1 billion "weighted" emergency room visits for 1995 to 2004 was analyzed. ⋯ Expansion of the roles and interprofessional care provided by NPs and PAs include increasing acceptance, clarification of legal and regulatory aspects of practice, shared roles, team approaches to shortages of fully-trained doctors, and the limitation of working hours of physician postgraduate trainees. The US forecast for emergency department visits is expected to outpace the growth of the population and the supply of emergency medicine providers. In view of an increasing emergency medical demand and a continuing shortage of physician personnel, policies are needed for workforce planning to meet the demand.
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The idea that health professionals should be accountable to the society they serve is not a new concept and by the 1990 s, the continuing professional development (CPD) of health professionals was being seen as one way in which Canadians' level of health could be improved. The public was, and is still today, increasingly demanding a system that is more responsive to regional and community needs. As a result, there is a need for more health professional education at all stages of the education continuum - undergraduate, postgraduate, and continuing professional development - that meets the health and social needs of the populations being served. ⋯ The databases/sources utilized included: Medline (now known as Pubmed), CINAHL, ERIC, PsychInfo, Canadian Business & Current Affairs (CBCA) Full-text Education (now known as CBCA Education), Research and Development Resource Base in Continuing Medical Education (RDRB/CME) at the University of Toronto, EMBASE (Excerpta Medica). This literature review was one of the first activities conducted under the auspices of "Issues of Quality and Continuing Professional Development: Maintenance of Competence", a national project funded by the Primary Health Care Transition Fund, Health Canada. The purposes of this review were to identify literature which focuses on aspects of continuing professional development, social accountability, and determinants of health; "best practices" of socially accountable CPD and inter/intra-disciplinary collaboration, and the critical success factors and challenges to implementing CPD, especially CPD that meets the needs of both health professionals and the populations they serve.
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The authors surveyed Canadian medical schools to identify gaps in current continuing professional development (CPD) with reference to social accountability and compared the results to best practices identified in a literature review. The literature review identified 15 relevant articles. Several themes on best practices emerged. ⋯ Most often, initiatives addressed medical expertise and interprofessional collaboration, least often health advocacy. Faculty initiated most initiatives, rather than students, community or society. These findings lead to recommendations for future directions of CPD.