Exploring the awareness, attitude, and inclination of healthcare students towards interprofessional education: A cross-sectional study in Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND: Interprofessional education (IPE) is acknowledged to enhance understanding between professionals and to facilitate learning. Healthcare professionals may be better equipped to accept and esteem other healthcare professionals, if interprofessional education is incorporated into undergraduate curricula. The management of challenging patient issues may also significantly benefit from this. As a result, the current study examined interprofessional education in their institutions and students' knowledge of and attitudes toward it. METHODOLOGY: We conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire-based study among students from a university in the southwest of Saudi Arabia, who were enrolled in courses in medical, pharmacy, nursing, dentistry, allied health, and public health. Following validation, the questionnaire included six questions to probe their knowledge, ten questions to gauge their attitude, and eleven questions to inquire about the growth and use of IPE in their institutions. Multiple regression and the Kruskal-Wallis test were used to examine the data. RESULTS: The survey involved 600 students, and 66.8% of the respondents were male. Less than one-third of students studying medicine replied to the survey, while students in the public health department had the lowest response rate. Compared to students in other programs, pharmacy students achieved a higher mean attitude score toward IPE (P < 0.001). Additionally, nursing and pharmacy students' mean IPE awareness scores were higher than those of medical students (P < 0.001). However, all program participants firmly agreed that integrating IPE into the curriculum was a good idea. CONCLUSIONS: The study found that students of a few programs had awareness and a positive attitude toward interprofessional education. Nonetheless, all of them favored its inclusion in their curriculum. They also stressed the need to educate teaching faculty on interprofessional education, to develop skilled facilitators within their institutions.