Education in Public Health: using Interprofessional Team Objective Structured Clinical Examination (ITOSCE) as an evaluation for collaborative practice

This study aims to evaluate the experience of simulated interprofessional pedagogical activity conducted at a Brazilian public universihty. This was an exploratory study with qualitative and quantitative analysis. Undergraduate students from Nursing, Physiotherapy, Medicine and Dentistry courses were invited to take the Inter-Professional Team Objective Structured Clinical Exam (ITOSCE). The students per group, were observed in stations, with twenty minutes in duration, containing daily problem situations in Primary Health Care. Feedback was performed at the stations and expected performance reviewed. Process evaluation included: an opinion questionnaire; application of the Readiness Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) and a focus group. The questionnaire was responded by 40 students (26.1 ± 5.26 years) and had a high average (90% of the distributed points), which reveals that the experience was considered positive. A high RIPLS score was also observed (87%), which indicates that students are available for IPE. In the focus group, students empathized ITOSCE as a training device with the capacity to develop important collaborative skills, while acknowledging the need for interprofessional communication to qualify health work. Results showed that students demonstrated positive attitudes towards collaborative work. The simulated experiment was adequate for observing collaborative skills and teamwork and resulted in an educational impact.