Study the readiness of students of Bushehr University of Medical Sciences for inter- professional education

Interprofessional education forming interprofessional identity through effective interactions. This study aimed to assess the readiness of students at Bushehr University of Medical Sciences for interprofessional education.

Methods & Materials: 

This was a cross-sectional descriptive study; the sample included 342 students from the Medicine, Nursing, Paramedicine, Dentistry, Health, and Nutrition faculties at Bushehr University of Medical Sciences. Data were gathered through the standard questionnaire developed by Yamani et al. and analyzed using SPSS. Descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and analytical statistics (t-test, one-way ANOVA, and Pearson correlation test) were employed to analyze the data.

The average age of the students was 21.64 ± 2.48; 68% were female and 32% were male. 58.5% held Bachelor's degrees, and 31.9% were pursuing an MD. 85.4% of students lived in student dormitories. The mean overall score of the students' viewpoints was 72.09 ± 7.01. The highest mean score among the surveyed items was related to the item "Collaborative learning among learners from different fields is ultimately beneficial for patients to solve their problems," while the lowest mean score was related to the item "Collaborative learning helps me to know my limits." There was a significant relationship between students' viewpoints and gender (p-value=0.004), with the average being higher among female students. However, there was no relationship between students' viewpoints and their educational level, college, or habitation.

Given the acceptability of students' readiness (higher than the mean score), it is suggested that policy and decision-makers design training programs incorporating interprofessional education and teamwork for effective interactions.