title: Factors That Influence the Development of Interprofessional Education and One Health for Medical, Veterinary and Dual Degree Public Health Students at an Offshore Medical School
Creators: name: Roopnarine, Rohini
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2020

description: In recent times, the impact of globalization has led to the occurrence of threats to global health from diseases of animal and environmental origin. The latter events have led to recommendations by medical educators that Interprofessional Education (IPE) programs that include the principles of One Health (OH) should form part of the curricula of medical and veterinary programs, to equip graduates to effectively collaborate towards diminishing these threats. The transdisciplinary concept of OH provides a framework that engenders collaboration between professionals at the crossover of animal, human and environmental health. This study evaluates the implications of developing IPE that includes the principles of OH at the institution at which this research was conducted. A sequential explanatory Mixed Methods Research approach was used to achieve the aims of this study which sought to attain the following: 1) to explore the readiness of Doctor of Medicine (MD) and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM ) students who have no prior IPE experience for IPE that incorporates the principles of OH; (2) to explore the effects of prior IPE and OH exposure on the readiness of Master of Public Health (MPH) students for IPE incorporating OH; (3) to explore the perspectives of the faculty and administrators on the opportunities and challenges for developing IPE that incorporates OH for the core MD and DVM programmes and (4) use the information gleaned in this study to inform the development of IPE that promotes the concept of OH at this institution. A survey was used that included a validated scale to explore the differences in readiness between groups of students across the disciplines of the health professions. Two open-ended questions were added to the survey that revealed the students’ knowledge about the relevance of One Health to practice. Faculty focus groups and an interview with one of the senior administrators of the Medical school were used to obtain their perspectives on developing interprofessional education and enhancing familiarity with OH among students. The analysis of the survey data indicated comparative differences in readiness for interprofessional education across the programs. A number of themes emerged from evaluating the student responses to OH that showed a clear omission of various components of definitions of the concept across the programs. Five key themes emerged from the faculty focus groups and interview that provided perspectives for informing the development of IPE that includes OH at this institution. These themes included the accreditation requirements for the programs and the expected role that interprofessional learning held within the traditional culture of each discipline. The study concludes by providing recommendations for curricula and leadership changes as well as a vision for executing the institutional claim for supporting the philosophy of OH. Underpinned by theory, the discussion Chapter utilizes various theoretical lenses for evaluating this research. This research also contributes to widening the discourse on the development of IPE that includes OH in four ways. One by contributing original insight into the factors that influence the readiness of students across four disciplines for IPE and providing an explanation of these findings using the lenses of various theoretical frameworks. Secondly, although the literature reveals that others have identified gaps pertaining to IPE and OH content in the curricula of the MD and DVM programs, this research presents a focused study that provides insight into the specificity of these gaps. The latter is accomplished through comparisons that are made in comparing the differences in the students’ definitions of OH and its relevance to practice across the programs. The student responses about OH revealed specific gaps in the students’ knowledge about OH pertaining to the following: the impacts of global warming resulting from climate change, on human and animal health; the effects of foodborne diseases of animal origin on human health; the impact of socio-cultural and environmental factors on the occurrence of zoonoses with implications for human and animal health; the role of the human-animal bond on human mental health and the implications of antimicrobial resistance for public health. This research also contributes to broader discussions pertaining to the development of IPE and OH by including students within the dual degree MPH program that demonstrate how gaps in the curriculum of the MD and DVM programs pertaining to IPE and OH can be bridged. Finally, this research provides a lens into the opinions of the faculty and administrators across four disciplines for informing the development of IPE that makes students more familiar with OH.