Interprofessional teaching and learning in the health occupations – A conference developed by and for young scientists in the field of education Translated title: Interprofessionelles Lehren und Lernen im Berufsfeld Gesundheit – Eine Tagung vom und für den bildungswissenschaftlichen Nachwuchs
There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.
Abstract
Introduction
Issues of interprofessional teaching and learning in the education of practitioners
in the health occupations are being increasingly addressed from a theoretical as well
as an empirical perspective in Germany. To date, the scientific community involved
in research on inter-professional teaching and learning in the field of health occupations
is still relatively small and poorly connected. This is particularly the case for
young scientists who work on relevant topics as part of their bachelor’s, master’s
or doctoral theses. Against this background, networking beyond the scope of single
disciplines or institutions gains in importance, particularly as a means of building
mutual support platforms. This idea motivated us to create a conference that aims
to bring together young scientists in the field of interprofessional teaching and
learning in Germany for the first time. Scientists working on their habilitation,
doctoral, or master’s theses were given the opportunity to engage in a scientific
discussion of the challenges posed by interprofessional teaching and learning in the
health occupations. Moreover, they were able to present and receive feedback on their
research projects in workshops with both peers and expert participants. Apart from
providing young scientists with individual support, the conference aimed to identify
common interests beyond the scope of single institutions or individuals and to stimulate
the establishment of interest groups, in order to engender a scientific national discourse
on interprofessional teaching and learning in the field of health occupations. A grant
application for financial support for the conference was submitted to the Federal
Ministry for Education and Research (Guideline for the support of young scientists
in the field of educational research through events). A positive decision on this
application made the conference possible and enabled 40 young scientists from all
over Germany to meet on the 16th and 17th of November 2017 on the island of Schwanenwerder
in Berlin.
Program
The main part of this conference organized by the Institute of Health and Nursing
Science of the Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin consisted of three research workshops.
Each workshop included four working sessions and provided a platform for intensive
discussions moderated by Prof. Ursula Walkenhorst (University of Osnabrück), Prof.
Marion Huber (University of Applied Sciences Zürich) und Dr. Cornelia Mahler (Ruprecht-Karls-University
of Heidelberg). Twelve young scientists presented their research projects during the
workshops. The presented projects had been previously selected based on specific criteria
following a call for abstracts. Depending on the working stage of each project and
on participants’ individual counselling needs, methodological issues, the specific
topics being researched, as well as issues of transfer from theory into practice were
discussed. The selected projects covered a broad spectrum of topics, such as the requirements
for educators involved in interprofessional teaching; the development, testing and
efficacy of (online) interprofessional teaching and learning formats for basic and
continuing education; peer-assisted learning as an approach to interprofessional education;
stereotypes endorsed by educators and trainees in the health occupations; students’
attitudes to interprofessional cooperation; and the analysis of setting specific interprofessional
communication processes. Various qualitative and quantitative study designs, as well
as psychological, pedagogical, sociological or linguistic theories were used to address
the above mentioned topics.
Apart from critically reflecting upon the presented research projects, the conference
also aimed to identify networking potential. As a result, a basis for individual as
well as institutional cooperations could be established. Moreover, the need for a
stronger link between educational theory and practice was discussed.
Two keynote addresses provided the frame for the three research workshops. Prof. Ursula
Kessels (Free University Berlin) gave a presentation on heterogeneity as a challenge
in interprofessional teaching and learning contexts from the perspectives of social,
work and organizational psychology and thus emphasized the need for multidisciplinary
research on interprofessional practice. In his presentation, Prof. Martin Fischer
(Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich) first described the concept of interprofessional
cooperation from a philosophical viewpoint, and then gave an overview of the current
state of basic and continuing interprofessional education in the health professions.
Conclusions and Outlook
Overall, this type of conference received very positive feedback. The small number
of participants as well as the constructive and supportive atmosphere during the research
workshops were very much appreciated. The opportunity for intensive discussions at
varying stages of the research process was deemed very valuable and necessary, as
science can only move forward through dialogue. Participants particularly highlighted
the fact that the conference was the result of a peer initiative. Organizing the conference
on a regular basis and its affiliation to the Inter-Professional Committee of the
German Society for Medical Education (GMA) were recommended. Future steps include
exploring options to provide similar opportunities in the long term, not only to young
scientists in the field of interprofessional education, but also to those involved
in providing basic and continuing education in the field of health occupations. The
results of the conference will be published in a conference proceedings volume (estimated
publication date - February 2018).
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Publisher:
German Medical Science GMS Publishing House
ISSN
(Electronic):
2366-5017
Publication date
(Electronic):
15
February
2018
Publication date Collection: 2018
Volume: 35
Issue: 1
Electronic Location Identifier: Doc2
Affiliations
[1
]Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin,
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin, Institute of Health Institut für Gesundheit
und Pflegewissenschaft, Berlin, Germany
Author notes
*To whom correspondence should be addressed: Heike Wild, Charité - Universitätsmedizin
Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin,
and Berlin, Institute of Health Institut für Gesundheit und Pflegewissenschaft, Augustenburger
Platz 1, D-13353 Berlin, Germany, E-mail:
heike.wild@
123456charite.de
Article
Publisher ID:
zma001149
Publisher ID:
Doc2
Other ID: urn:nbn:de:0183-zma0011499
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution 4.0 License. See license information at
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.