Assessing dental student perceptions after engaging in a longitudinal interprofessional education curriculum: A preliminary study

Purpose/Objectives: Baseline IPE perceptions for dental students were gathered prior to the implementation of a 2-year formalised IPE curriculum at a US institution. The goal was to establish a baseline of student perceptions and, in the future, continue to track student IPE perception data with IPE engagement as one measure of outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to analyse two dental student cohort perceptions of IPE after engaging in a 2-year longitudinal curriculum. Methods: First- and second-year students were required to participate in a 2-year IPE curriculum. As a requirement of the curriculum, students were asked to complete a validated IPE assessment, the Student Perceptions of Interprofessional Clinical Education-Revised instrument, version 2 (SPICE-R2). Students completed the SPICE-R2 survey, using a retrospective pretest/post-test design, after engaging in the 2-year curriculum. Results: Sixty-four students in cohort 2017 and 70 students in cohort 2018 completed the entire SPICE-R2. Statistically significant positive changes (p <.05) were found in both dental student cohorts after engagement in the 2-year longitudinal IPE curriculum. Conclusion(s): A longitudinal IPE curriculum has the potential to impact student IPE perceptions. Additional longitudinal multi-institutional research is needed to determine best practices in delivery and learning.