Are Filipino students ready to collaborate? Comparing the readiness of healthcare students for interprofessional education in the Philippines

Abstract

The inclusion of interprofessional education in healthcare curricula in the Philippines has paved the way for the researchers to examine students’ readiness to learn with, about, and from one another to foster collaboration in providing quality patient care. In view of this, we examined the differential attitude of 423 Filipino students to get involved in interprofessional learning using the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale. Using multivariate analysis of variance, we found differences across gender, program, and year level among students from medical technology, pharmacy, physical therapy and occupational therapy in terms of teamwork and collaboration, negative professional identity, positive professional identity, and roles and responsibilities. These differences can inform the development of an intervention program to elicit a favorable attitude toward interprofessional collaboration. Theoretical, methodological, and practical implications of the findings are discussed.