An update on the status of interprofessional education and interprofessional prevention education in U.S. academic health centers

Abstract Purpose A national study was conducted in 2010 that described the status of interprofessional education and interprofessional prevention education in the United States. This manuscript compares the results from the 2010 survey with those of an expanded survey in 2015. Method The original 10 questions comprising the 2010 survey were retained in 2015 and re-sequenced to facilitate completion. An additional 15 questions were added to the survey to capture information about issues not assessed by the first survey - language and program changes in IP-Education, IP-Practice and IP-Prevention Education, and demographic variables of interest. Respondents were again drawn from the membership list of the Association of Academic Health Centers. Results The respondent group of 156 represents 36 of the 42 states that have Association of Academic Health Centers (AAHC) member institutions, and 103 of the 125 AAHC member institutions that were eligible to receive surveys responded representing 82.4% of eligible AAHC institutions. Reported activity is higher in the area of course offerings with the least activity reported in the area of infrastructure. Data from the responses to the IP-Prevention Education questions, by contrast, indicate that there has been a decrease in IP-Prevention Education between 2010 and 2015. Conclusion The trend in growth of IP-Education and IP-Practice is encouraging and deserves to be tracked to assess whether the positive direction continues and whether the prevalence of dedicated personnel and infrastructure (centers and offices) continue to increase. Relative to IP–Prevention Education, increased assessment needs to be given to the proposed linking of IP-Education with prevention education.