Bridging the Communication Gap Between Classroom and Clinical Setting: Embedding Peer Mentoring into a Semester-long Experiential Learning Course for Occupational and Physical Therapy Students

Interprofessional education (IPE) experiences prepare students to translate their professional knowledge into efficient, patient-centered teamwork. The intent is for newly graduated students to transition smoothly onto interprofessional workplace teams. Unfortunately, the transition of IPP teaming preparation from the classroom to the clinic does not always happen as smoothly as anticipated. While students feel prepared to join and participate on existing teams, they feel unprepared for how to speak up about essential team issues. It is challenging for an inexperienced clinician to provide feedback to a more experienced peer, especially one from another profession. It is especially problematic when the issues requiring feedback relate to potentially high conflict topics such as safety or the quality of care provided by the team. Interprofessional feedback skill development occurs when students have both opportunities to practice and an ongoing mentor-mentee relationship with the person to whom they provide feedback. We combined physical and occupational therapy students from a first-year course (Clinical Process) and a second-year course (Teaching in Practice). Students formed 6-person teams, consisting of two pairs of first-year and second-year physical therapy students and one pair of first-year and second-year occupational therapy students. Teams met five times for interprofessional experiences where second-year students applied newly learned teaching techniques to instruct, evaluate, and provide feedback their first-year partners on their clinical skills with modalities, patient initial interviews, muscle strength and joint ROM testing, and mobility skills. In return, the first-year students evaluated and provided feedback to their second-year partners on how their partner’s quality of verbal and nonverbal communication and clarity of instructions affected the learning experience. Feedback requirements became more challenging as the series of interactions progressed. Both professions then joined together to discuss observed differences in feedback, considering delivery style, perception by the recipients, and potential impact on future team communication.