Interprofessional education for the quality use of medicines : designing authentic multimedia learning resources

It is claimed that health care students who learn together will be better prepared for contemporary practice and more able to work collaboratively and communicate effectively. In Australia, although recognised as important for preparing nursing, pharmacy and medical students for their roles in the medication team, interprofessional education is seldom used for teaching medication safety. This is despite evidence indicating that inadequate communication between health care professionals is the primary issue in the majority of medication errors. It is suggested that the pragmatic constraints inherent in university timetables, curricula and contexts limit opportunities for health professional students to learn collaboratively. Thus, there is a need for innovative approaches that will allow nursing, medical and pharmacy students to learn about and from other disciplines even when they do not have the opportunity to learn with them.This paper describes the development of authentic multimedia resources that allow for participative, interactive and engaging learning experiences based upon sound pedagogical principles. These resources provide opportunities for students to critically examine clinical scenarios where medication safety is, or has the potential to be compromised and to develop skills in interprofessional communication that will prepare them to manage these types of situations in clinical practice.