Together We Learn Analyzing the Interprofessional Internal Medicine Residents’ and Master of Public Health Students’ Quality Improvement Education Experience

Although the value of interprofessional collaborative education has been promoted, it is unclear how teams of clinical and nonclinical learners perceive this experience. The authors studied an interprofessional quality improvement (QI) curriculum implemented in 2013 integrating internal medicine residents (n = 90) and Master of Public Health (MPH) students (n = 33) at an urban safety net academic medical center. Pre and post curriculum surveys assessed attitudes toward QI and interprofessional education and team performance. Resident attitudes toward learning and engaging in QI work improved at the end of the curriculum. Overall, MPH students demonstrated significantly more positive attitudes about interprofessional learning and work than residents. They also agreed more strongly than residents that patients would benefit if residents and public health students worked together. As health care organizations evolve to become more integrated, it is crucial that interprofessional educational opportunities be developed and evaluated to help encourage a culture of collaboration among health care providers.