A 3-year qualitative evaluation of interprofessional team-based clinical education at an Australian dental school

Purpose/Objectives: This article describes a qualitative evaluation of interprofessional (IP) team-based treatment planning (TBTP) involving dentistry, oral health therapy, dental prosthetics, and dental technology students at the Griffith University School of Dentistry and Oral Health (DOH). Using the same data from a recently published article that looked solely at the quantitative evaluation of TBTP, this article focuses on the qualitative evaluation of TBTP. This evaluation explores the contextual meaning related to the previously published aspects of TBTP that contributed positively toward oral health students’ IP clinical learning and identifies themes reflecting students’ IP clinical experience. Methods: Thematic analysis of transcripts from nine focus groups, comprised of 46 final year students and open-ended questions collected from 544 students through an online instrument from 2012 to 2014, explored the question: “What is the contribution of IP student team-based processes on students’ perceptions of IP learning and practice at DOH?”. Results: Responses from online participants and student focus groups revealed three major themes: useful role learning, communication confidence, and pro-active collaborative teamwork. Throughout each of these themes, students stated they possessed a confidence in collaborating with other oral health students as exhibited through an understanding of profession-specific and IP roles, self-assurance in communicating, and teamwork skills. Conclusion: Aspects of TBTP that contributed positively toward students’ IP clinical learning and practice were meaningfully identified.