Influence of a university cooperation on the development of interprofessional competences

Objectives This project carried out in cooperation between the University
of Applied Sciences for Health Professions Upper Austria (UASHPUA) and the
Medical Faculty of Johannes Kepler University Linz (MFJKUL), describes the
feasibility, i.e., the planning and implementation, and presents selected
results of an inter-university lecture on interprofessional cooperation.
Methodology The lecture “Grundlagen zu interprofessioneller Zusammenarbeit
im Gesundheitswesen (IPZ3I)” / “Introduction to interprofessional
cooperation in health care (IPZ3I)”) as well as an interprofessional job
shadowing were designed. The pilot lecture started in the winter semester
(WS) 2019/20. An evaluation of IPZ3I was undertaken by means of a
questionnaire.  Results IPZ3I was held in WS 2019/20 for 296
students from nine different health care professions and included a
specialist lecture, the presentation of the professions, and
interprofessional case processing. In the evaluation approx. 80 % of the
students described a better understanding of the interprofessional
collaboration. More than 70 % regard interprofessional courses in
education as important or very important. The majority of respondents
indicate that after completing the lecture they can make recommendations
for action for interprofessional cooperation. Conclusions The joint
lecture IPZ3I will be maintained at both universities. The process of
evaluation and adaptation of curricula at UASHPUA is currently underway.
This includes, for instance, consultations with the curriculum officers at
MFJKUL, and the exploration of further possibilities to identify and to
implement joint interprofessional teaching aspects in the curricula. This
shall be achieved by considering the existing resources, increasing
student numbers at MFJKUL as of 2023, planned curricula revisions as well
as using possible synergies aiming at an extension of the existing
cooperation. Key words Interprofessionalism; project description;
curriculum development; competency-based education