| Popis: |
This chapter presents a case-study of a large-scale programme of interprofessional health education delivered through a virtual learning environment (VLE) and reusable interprofessional learning objects. The project commenced in 2005/2006, and brought together 1,800 students from 14 different health and social care disciplines in an InterProfessional Learning Pathway (IPLP). Interprofessional e-learning pedagogy and resources were developed to permit asynchronous interactions between large numbers of students from different disciplines, operating in virtual learning sets based around a series of patient scenarios which had been developed with service-user involvement. After the IPLP had run for the first three years, the experience of two of the 14 participating professional groups, dietetics students and physiotherapy students, was explored in 2008 through the use of focus groups and questionnaires. Both student groups felt the IPLP learning experience had a positive impact on their awareness of other roles and interprofessional issues, and offered greater insight into the total clinical pathway of individual patients. Overall, Physiotherapy students found engagement in the IPLP a more useful learning experience than Dietetics students. A range of logistical issues, both positive and negative, were identified by both student groups in terms of the practical processes associated with the complex operation of the IPLP. |
