Developing interprofessional facilitators and leaders: Utilization of advanced health profession students as interprofessional (IPE) facilitators

Objective: The purpose of this project was to prepare advanced students (dentistry, medicine, pharmacy, and occupational therapy) to be facilitators for interprofessional small groups and evaluate them compared to faculty facilitators. Methods: The Interprofessional Leadership and Facilitation Course was developed as a way to provide advanced students with an opportunity to develop and apply interprofessional leadership and facilitation skills. Mixed-method analysis was used to compare student facilitator performance with faculty facilitators and determine educational impact of the experience. Multiple data sources were collected. Results: Facilitator performance was similar between advanced students and faculty and the experience resulted in self-reported behavioral changes in the practice setting by the student facilitators. Student facilitators reported positive and meaningful experiences. Conclusions: Utilizing advanced students as an educational resource, while providing unique and meaningful learning experiences for all participants, is a potential interprofessional resource management strategy to be further explored. These advanced students are future interprofessional preceptors, and this leadership experience begins their paths as interprofessional educators.