Medical and pharmacy students shadowing advanced practice nurses to develop interprofessional competencies

Aim: This article describes a job-shadowing project that partnered second-year medical and third-year pharmacy students with an advanced practice nurse (APN) for a four-hour job-shadowing experience. Background: In order to address the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) Expert Panel core competencies of interprofessional communication, teamwork, and roles/responsibilities, this project implemented a job-shadowing experience to increase students' knowledge of APN roles and interprofessional collaborative team practices. Methods: Forty volunteer medical and pharmacy students were paired together and completed the job-shadowing activity with an APN. Assessment of knowledge was measured by pre- and post-project surveys. Results: Pre- and post-job-shadowing differences demonstrated statistical significance in the interprofessional domains of role awareness, collaboration and communication. These results suggest that an APN job-shadowing experience is effective in developing medical and pharmacy students' competencies in interprofessional collaborative practice. Conclusion: Specific recommendations include creating enhanced job-shadowing experiences within the curriculums of medicine, pharmacy, and nursing students, and assessing for evidence of enhanced IPEC competencies as a result of these learning experiences.