Interprofessionalplacement: was itbeneficial?Tom Mallinson, Medical Teaching Centre, Warwick Medical School, Coventry, UK
Iread with interest the studyby Joseph et al., document-ing students’ perceived read-
iness for interprofessionalpractice.1 It is interesting to seethe reasonably high levels ofagreement with the statementsfrom the Readiness for Interpro-fessional Learning Scale (RIPLS)for both cohorts, possibly indi-cating a reasonable level of read-iness for interprofessionalworking, even before the clinicalplacements.
The study did not, however,appear to include an analysis of
the statistically significant dif-ference (or lack thereof) of pre-and post- clinical placementscores. This is especially disap-pointing when the aim of thestudy was to ‘ascertain attitudi-nal change experienced by...stu-dents undertaking IPLactivities...’.1 From viewing thecollated data presented in thisarticle it appears that althoughthere may have been a slightaverage improvement in post-placement test scores for theTheatre cohort, this effect is notso apparent in the Health Centrecohort. It is also interesting to
note that for a number of ques-tions on the RIPLS, students’responses actually became morenegative after their clinicalplacement. I would welcome thepublic presentation of this data,with the hope of assisting thedevelopment of future interpro-fessional learning and improvingpatient care.
REFERENCE
1. Joseph S, Diack L, Garton F, Haxton J.
Interprofessional education in prac-
tice. Clin Teach 2012;9:27–31.
Corresponding author’s contact details: Mr Tom Mallinson, Medical Teaching Centre, Warwick Medical School, Gibbet Hill Campus, Coventry,CV4 7AL, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
doi: 10.1111/j.1743-498X.2012.00605.x
Letters tothe editor
270 � Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2012. THE CLINICAL TEACHER 2012; 9: 270–272
