As the US population ages, the number of prescriptions managed by patients and healthcare teams is increasing. Thus, discontinuing or reducing medications that are considered to pose more risks than benefits can be achieved through deprescribing. Despite increasing calls for a stronger focus on deprescribing in healthcare education, current discussions highlight the lack of training on this topic within healthcare curricula. This is a significant barrier to effectively implementing the deprescribing process. This study aimed to characterize healthcare professional students (HPSs)’s perspectives on deprescribing within an interprofessional healthcare team, particularly regarding the motivations and roles of these future practitioners. Methods: Focus groups were conducted with HPSs at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. The data collection, guided by a conceptual model, took place over three months in 2022. Data analysis was performed using thematic analysis, during which themes were identified through inductive coding. Results: Participants (n = 36) represented various faculties, including medicine, pharmacy, health professions, nursing, and dentistry. Two themes emerged: (1) Healthcare Team Members’ Roles and Responsibilities (2) “Put Me in, Coach”: Patient Safety Motivates Deprescribing. Conclusion: Data from HPSs highlighted the importance of an interprofessional healthcare team approach to deprescribing. Based on these insights, educators and practitioners should focus on establishing strong interprofessional healthcare teams that privilege open communication. Teams should consider deprescribing as a patient safety concern, as this may galvanize the team and provide additional motivation for performing the necessary work of deprescribing.

Preparing the next generation of pharmacists to succeed in practice and provide premier care starts with ensuring pharmacy education standards are met and align with innovative practices and that education incorporates topics that are important to promoting health. For example, recent reports link endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) to numerous diseases such as reproductive disorders, metabolic diseases, and developmental abnormalities. Considering the suboptimal awareness and knowledge about EDCs, it is imperative to provide public health education through a pharmacy curriculum. The objective of this study was to evaluate student pharmacists’ perceptions of the impact of a role play activity on their knowledge of EDCs and counseling skills. A secondary objective was to explore student pharmacists’ perceptions of how role play might impact their future career as a pharmacist. A retrospective qualitative study consisting of a lecture, a pre-brief, a low-fidelity simulation centered on role-play, and debrief to develop knowledge of EDCs to practice counseling skills, and a post reflection was implemented to explore this aim. Third year student pharmacists who were enrolled on the public health elective course were eligible to participate in the study. All reflections were de-identified, imported into a qualitative software, Dedoose^®, Version 9.2.6 and thematically analyzed using an inductive approach. Thematic analysis revealed three master themes, which tell the story of an initial lack of familiarity with EDCs that was rectified by the lecture and low-fidelity simulation. In the first theme, we can see that all of the participants noted their positive perceptions of the low-fidelity simulation, especially the role playing on a topic they lacked familiarity with. In the second theme, participants revealed the activity’s impact on their performance or behaviors. Finally, the third theme explores the future implications of a pharmacist’s impact on public health. This novel study contributes to a growing body of literature on the impact of pharmacy education practices and instruction on public health. The findings suggest that pharmacy educators might consider incorporating role playing instruction for public health topics, EDCs, or topics not traditionally taught in the pharmacy curriculum.

Background: Polypharmacy remains a significant challenge, often leading to adverse drug events and increased healthcare costs. One effective strategy to mitigate these risks is deprescribing, the systematic and intentional discontinuation or reduction of medications. Despite growing recognition of deprescribing’s importance, limited research has examined the impact of interprofessional education interventions on developing deprescribing competencies among healthcare professional students. This study aims to examine the perspectives of healthcare students, including student pharmacists, medical students, and nurse practitioner students, regarding their roles and responsibilities in the deprescribing process. Methods: Following completion of a Deprescribing Interprofessional Education Simulation activity (DIPE-SA), participants were invited to join focus groups. The study included students from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) Colleges of Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy. Constructivist Grounded Theory (CGT) underpinned the qualitative research approach, informing the development of the study framework. Each focus group was facilitated by two researchers and recorded. Recruitment continued until saturation was achieved. Data were transcribed verbatim and analyzed for themes using Dedoose, qualitative analysis software. Results: A total of 19 participants attended four focus groups. Three major themes emerged and guided the development of the Roles–Collaboration–Communication (RCC) interprofessional framework. The first theme, roles, focuses on the unique responsibilities and functions healthcare professionals assume within the team and throughout the deprescribing process. The second theme, collaboration, emphasizes coordinated efforts and shared decision-making among members of the interprofessional healthcare team in deprescribing. Finally, the third theme, communication, highlights the importance of effective information and intention exchange, serving as both a mediator and connector, linking roles and collaboration, and ultimately enabling successful deprescribing. Conclusions: This study’s findings, together with the RCC interprofessional framework, demonstrate the interplay of roles, collaboration, and communication in medication management. The RCC framework highlights the value of dynamic team processes for achieving safe and effective deprescribing, which in turn improves patient care and health outcomes.