The international literature underpinning collaborative practice within practice based experiential learning for the initial education of student pharmacists: a scoping review

Abstract

Introduction: Interprofessional team working withinhealthcare [1] enables the use of complementary areas ofexpertise. Collaborative practice (CP) builds on this andenhances recognition and respect for such expertise whichfacilitates professional synergy. Development of CP needs tobe built into initial education programmes and there is globalprogress. [2] Further, a WHO Framework highlighted the importance of courses developing CP in experiential learning(EL) environments. [1] There is need to develop both CP andEL within pharmacy courses to meet governmental and regulatory aspirations around the clinical and prescribing rolesof pharmacists.Aim: The aim of this part of a scoping review was to describe the different characteristics of the international literature around the development, implementation and evaluationof CP within practice based EL for initial education of student pharmacists.Methods: The six-stage Arksey and O'Malley frameworkand the PRISMA extension for Scoping Reviews for reporting were followed. Eligibility criteria were defined (Table1) and electronic searches of relevant databases (Medline,IPA, CINAHL and Google Scholar) conducted from inception to April 2020. MeSH terms and other relevant subjectheadings and text words were used. First stage involvedscreening titles/abstracts and second stage involved review of full text articles. A charting tool was developed andused to extract data on: country, study design, methods ofevaluation, sector of practice, stage of students, professionalgroups involved, monitoring and assessment and scope fordevelopment. Findings were presented as a descriptive narrative summary. All steps involved independent checks by twoof the review team.Results: Twenty-eight papers were included with mostfrom the USA (16 papers), with the remainder from Australia(5 papers), UK (5 Papers), Canada and the Netherlands (1paper each). The majority of papers described quantitative methods using a wide variety of published (some validated) scales (20 scales including RIPLS, SPICE, CPAT)and a number of bespoke survey tools. The main focuswas at 'Kirkpatrick model of educational evaluation' level3 - with 13 papers focussing on changes to professional behaviours. Papers focussed on either hospital (12 papers) orprimary care initiatives (12 papers) with the remaining fourdescribing cross-sectoral settings. Only 6 papers stated thatthey focussed on specific healthcare specialities and the remainder were in general medical facilities. The nature of initiatives and activities varied with a predominance of focusto include later years of study. Only 3 papers included only pharmacy and medicine students. Detailed information waslacking on methods of student assessment: some reportedthis involved reflection, with limited reporting of tools to assess competencies. A wide array of further research proposalswas articulated.Conclusion: This scoping review highlights the range ofwork already carried out. The diversity highlights the needfor consideration of commonality in the nature of activityand tools to evaluate outcomes to ensure transferability topractice. There are many challenges influencing further development and implementation of CP. Facilitating mattersby using the evidence base to add to existing placementswithout restructuring curricula across courses/institutionshas been proposed by some authors.