Promoting Interprofessional Collaboration Among Pediatric Physical Therapy Students Through Remote Simulation

Abstract

Interprofessional collaboration must be taught in healthcare curriculum to ready graduates for the clinic, however, limited evidence is available to guide pediatric physical therapy faculty in best practices. This quantitative retrospective pretest-posttest study examined collaborative competency attainment, satisfaction, and self-confidence of 84 Doctor of Physical Therapy students from four campuses of a private university. Students participated in a live, remote simulated learning experience and completed the Student Satisfaction and Self-Confidence in Learning scale and the Interprofessional Collaborative Competencies Attainment Survey–Revised. There was significant improvement in student collaborative competencies after the simulated learning experience and students were satisfied and confident in the learning experience regardless of demographics. Findings support implementation of a remote simulation for the purpose of interprofessional collaboration in pediatric physical therapy education and may relate to other fields. Future research may explore the influence of interdisciplinary, remote simulation interventions on student behavior in the clinic and patient outcomes.