Qualified and competent healthcare professionals working in a collaborative team environment is a prerequisite for high quality patient care. In order to be successful in the healthcare working environment, medical students need to be exposed to interprofessional learning early in their education. A single stage online survey was administered to medical students to evaluate their attitudes and perceptions of interprofessional education (IPE) and whether prior exposure to IPE increased their appreciation for interprofessional collaboration. The results suggest that irrespective of prior exposure to IPE, medical students appreciated the importance of interprofessional education and collaboration. Medical students showed a strong interest in attending interprofessional courses in other disciplines. Time constraints, scheduling conflicts, and communication emerged as barriers to IPE. Medical students embraced IPE and welcomed the opportunity to learn with other disciplines. Clinical case studies and simulations were identified as potential methods to integrate with other healthcare disciplines. The positive attitude and perceptions of the medical students toward interprofessional education and collaboration warrants the inclusion of related courses in medical curricula, as this may further increase students’ potentials in becoming effective healthcare providers.

The increasing rates of comorbidities among patients and the complexity of care have warranted interprofessional collaboration (IPC) as an important component of the healthcare structure. An initial step towards assessing the effectiveness of collaboration requires the exploration of the attitudes and experience of healthcare professionals towards IPC. This online survey aimed to examine the attitudes of healthcare professionals working in a large public academic medical center toward IPC in patient care and the healthcare team, and their behavior and experience regarding IPC. The rankings, according to the perceived importance among the respondents, of the four Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) core competencies (values/ethics, roles/responsibilities, interprofessional communication, teams/teamwork) were assessed. There were strong but varying levels of consensus among healthcare professionals (N = 551) that IPC facilitates efficient patient care, improves patient problem-solving ability, and increases better clinical outcomes for patients. They acknowledged that IPC promotes mutual respect within the healthcare team and providers’ ability to make optimal patient care decisions. However, overall more than 35% of the respondents did not attend multidisciplinary education sessions (grand rounds, seminars, etc.), and about 23% did not participate in bedside patient care rounds. Interprofessional communication was ranked as the most important IPEC core competence. Although the attitude towards IPC among healthcare professionals is strongly positive, many healthcare professionals face challenges in participating in IPC. Institutional policies that facilitate interprofessional learning and interactions for this group of healthcare professionals should be formulated. Online distance learning and interactions, and simulation-enhanced interprofessional education, are options for addressing this barrier. Hospital administrators should facilitate conducive work environments that promote IPC, based on IPEC core competencies, and promote programs that address the challenges of IPC.

The nutrition-focused physical examination (NFPE) is an integral component of nutrition assessment performed by registered dietitian nutritionists (RDNs) to determine signs of malnutrition and other nutrition-related complications. Increased use of this essential skill among RDNs and the transformation of dietetics education to a competency-based model in the near future calls for appropriately validated tools to measure RDNs’ NFPE competence. To fill the need for a validated competency tool, this study developed an Interactive Nutrition-Specific Physical Exam Competency Tool (INSPECT) utilizing the initial 70 items identified in the first phase of the study. The second phase of this study aimed to test the preliminary version of the INSPECT for content and face validity. An expert panel of 17 members provided consensus recommendations through the Delphi process. Internal consistency of the consensus was measured with Cronbach’s alpha (α) and α of ≥0.70 was defined as acceptable a priori. Inter-rater agreement among the expert panel was determined using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and an a priori ICC of 0.75 to 0.9 was established as good and >0.9 as excellent agreement. The results showed acceptable face validity (α = 0.71) and excellent content validity for the INSPECT, with an internal consistency of α = 0.97 in the first round and α = 0.96 in the second round. The inter-rater agreement was also excellent with ICC = 0.95 for each of the Delphi rounds. A total of 52 items were retained from the preliminary version of the INSPECT. Open feedback from the experts allowed for the consolidation of 11 similar items for better scoring and evaluation and thus, a total of 41 items were included in the final version of the INSPECT. The final version of the INSPECT is currently being studied in real-life, multi-site clinical settings among practicing RDNs to examine construct validity, reliability, and item-level psychometric properties. Ultimately, the validated INSPECT will be available for the competency evaluation of RDNs practicing in clinical settings.

An alarming 30% to 50% prevalence rate of disease-related malnutrition among hospitalized patients compels the need for early diagnosis and treatment of malnutrition. Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDNs) can utilize the nutrition-focused physical examination (NFPE) as one of the nutrition assessment criteria to accurately diagnose malnutrition. Although RDNs are striving to employ NFPE in practice, a lack of experience and adequate training impedes full utilization of this technique. This results in wide skill variations requiring continuous evaluation of RDNs’ NFPE competency. However, a standardized, validated competency tool is not widely available and hence this study aims to develop a standardized, interactive nutrition-specific physical exam competency tool (INSPECT). As a first step in the development of INSPECT, a qualitative, technology-based focus group approach with 7 content and practice experts was utilized to generate appropriate tool items. A total of 70 NFPE items under 9 areas including 12 items for muscle loss, 4 items for subcutaneous fat loss, 31 items for micronutrient deficiencies, 1 item for fluid status, 2 items for handgrip strength, 5 items for initial preparation, 4 items for bedside manner, 8 items for swallowing, and 3 items for abdominal evaluation were generated. This study successfully utilized technology-based focus groups to generate appropriate NFPE items for the competency tool development. Using the items, an initial version of INSPECT has been developed, which is presently being investigated for content and face validity. The final version will undergo field tests and will be examined for reliability, validity, and item-level psychometric properties.

Even as new medical modalities, diagnostics, and technologies are rapidly changing healthcare, providing patients with safe, high-quality care remains the central focus. To provide safe patient care, healthcare providers are obligated to demonstrate and maintain the necessary competence. As more healthcare disciplines move toward a competency-based education model, it is essential to extend the competence verification from the academic educational level to the patient’s bedside. The nutrition-focused physical exam (NFPE) is a competency recently adopted by registered dietitian nutritionists (RDNs) for assessing patients’ nutritional status. Being a newly acquired skill, validated tools are required to measure NFPE competence during routine clinical practice. The Interactive Nutrition Specific Physical Exam Competency Tool (INSPECT) is a new tool developed specifically to observe and measure RDNs’ NFPE competence in clinical settings. The INSPECT was designed and validated for content using expert RDNs’ input in the first and second phases of the study. This current study aimed to assess the reliability of the INSPECT through multi-site observations by clinical supervisors evaluating RDNs’ NFPE competency during patient assessment. The INSPECT exhibited good inter-rater reliability (ICC = 0.78 for the first assessment and ICC = 0.68 for the second assessment), moderate to strong intra-rater reliability for 37 of 41 items (Spearman rho = 0.54 to 1.0), and excellent internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.86 for the first assessment and α = 0.92 for the second assessment). In total, 10 out of the 11 INSPECT subsets showed good to excellent internal consistency (α ranging from 0.70 to 0.98). The results demonstrate that the INSPECT is a reliable tool, is stable over time, and has good agreement and excellent consistency between raters. The INSPECT can be a valuable tool to measure, promote and maintain RDNs’ NFPE competence in authentic acute care settings.