Change in physiotherapy students’ attitudes towards cooperation in an interdisciplinary medical team
Keywords:
physician, nurse, physiotherapist, opinions, students, interdisciplinary therapeutic team, team workAbstract
Introduction. Effective collaboration within a medical team is playing an increasingly important role in ensuring a high level of service in health care. Students of medical degree programs perceive other medicine-related professionals in a predetermined, frequently stereotypical manner from the very beginning of their university education. University education, instead of verifying the image, reinforces it.
Aim. The objective of this study was to analyze the participants’ perceptions of cooperation in an interdisciplinary medical team, and to compare the perception of this cooperation among first- and third-year students at medical universities (MS), universities of physical education (PE), and other university-level schools (OU).
Material and methods. The study involved 1145 students from 11 Polish university-level schools of different educational orientations. The same students were surveyed voluntarily on two occasions: during their first and third year of studies. The research tool was an anonymous standardised questionnaire designed by the authors (88 questions). The statistical analysis (STATISTICA 9.0) was conducted using the non-parametric chi-square (χ2) test (p<0.05).
Results. The students claimed significantly more frequently (p<0.001) during the third year of their studies that the professional status of the physiotherapist was equal to that of the physician. The majority of the students declared that the physiotherapist should collaborate with the physician as a partner, with the university education not influencing the students’ opinions in this regard.
Conclusions. It is necessary to complement the curricula of Polish medicine-related universities with courses serving the development of future interdisciplinary relations. The interdisciplinary training curriculum should be adapted to the needs and potentialities of individual university-level schools and degree programmes.
References
1. McCallin A, McCallin M. Factors infl uencing team working and strategies to facilitate successful collaborative teamwork. NZ Journal of Physiotherapy 2009;37(2):61-7.
2. Gotlib J, Białoszewski D, Lewandowska M, Doroszewski A, Durka M, Sopeła M. Współpraca interdyscyplinarnego zespołu terapeutycznego praca u podstaw czy idee- fi xe?, w: Janowski K, Cudo A (editors). Człowiek chory - Aspekty Biospołeczne, t.2, Lublin 2009, 145-161.
3. Gotlib J, Białoszewski D, Cabak A, Barczyk K, Bauer A, Grzegorczyk J, Kułak W, Majcher P, Nowotny-Czupryna O, Płaszewski M, Prokopowicz K, Sierdziński J. Postrzeganie zawodu fi zjoterapeuty przez studentów I roku studiów I stopnia polskich uczelni o różnych profi lach kształcenia. Fizjoterapia Polska 2009;2(9):109-21.
4. Brehm B, Breen P, Brown B, Long L, Smith R, Wall A, Warren NS. An interdisciplinary approach to introducing professionalism. Am J Pharm Educ. 2006;15:81-4.
5. Chakraborti C, Boonyasai RT, Wright SM, Kern DE. A Systematic Review of Teamwork Training Interventions in Medical Student and Resident Education. J Gen Intern Med. 2008;23:846-53.
6. Cooper H, Spencer-Dawe E, McLean E. Beginning the process of teamwork: Design, implementation and evaluation of an interprofessional education intervention for fi rst year undergraduate students. J Interprof Care 2005;19:492-508.
7. Dalley J, Sim J. Nurses` perceptions of physiotherapists as rehabilitation team members. Clin Rehabil. 2001;15:380-9.
8. Hean S, Clark JM, Adams K, Humphris D. Will opposites attract? Similarities and differences in students’ perceptions of the stereotype profi les of other health and social care professional groups. J Interprof Care. 2006;20:162-81.
9. Hind M, Norman I, Cooper S, Gill E, Hilton R, Judd P, Jones SC. Interprofessional perceptions of health care students. J Interprof Care 2003;17:21-34.
10. Krautscheid LC. Improving communication among healthcare providers: preparing student nurses for practice. Int J Nurs Educ Scholarsh 2008;5: 40-5.
11. Nadolski GJ, Bell MA, Brewer BB, Frankel RM, Cushing HE, Brokaw JJ. Evaluating the quality of interaction between medical students and nurses in a large teaching hospital. Med Educ. 2006;25:6-23.
12. Pedersen BD, Poulsen IK, Ringsted CV, Schroeder TV. Interprofessional communication and cooperation training in ward rounds for medical and nursing students: a pilot project. Ugeskr laeger 2006;25:2449-51.
13. Pollard KC, Miere ME, Gilchrist M, Sayers A. A comparison of interprofessional perceptions and working relationships among health and social care students: The results of a 3-year intervention. Health Soc Care Community 2006;14:541-52.
14. Rudland JR, Mires GJ. (2005). Characteristics of doctors and nurses as perceived by students entering medical school: implications for shared teaching. Med Educ. 2005;39:448-55.
15. Turner P. The occupational prestige of physiotherapy: perceptions of student physiotherapists in Australia. Aust J Physiother. 2001;47:191-7.
