title: Systematic inclusion of mandatory interprofessional education in health professions curricula at Gunma University: a report of student self-assessment in a nine-year implementation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The mandatory interprofessional education programme at Gunma University was initiated in 1999. This paper is a statistical evaluation of the programme from 1999 to 2007.
  
  
  METHODS
  A questionnaire of 10 items to assess the achievement levels of the programme, which was developed independently of other assessment systems published previously, was distributed, as well as two or three open-ended questions to be answered at the end of each annual module. A multivariate analysis of variance model was used, and the factor analysis of the responses was performed with varimax rotation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Over all, 1418 respondents of a possible 1629 students completed the survey, for a total response rate of 87.1%. Cronbach's alpha of 10 items was 0.793, revealing high internal consistency. Our original questionnaire was categorized into four subscales as follows: "Role and responsibilities", "Teamwork and collaboration", "Structure and function of training facilities", and "Professional identity". Students in the Department of Occupational Therapy reached a relatively lower level of achievement. In the replies to the open-ended questions, requests for the participation of the medical students were repeated throughout the evaluation period.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present four subscales measure "understanding", and may take into account the development of interprofessional education programmes with clinical training in various facilities. The content and quality of clinical training subjects may be remarkably dependent on training facilities, suggesting the importance of full consultation mechanisms in the local network with the relevant educational institutes for medicine, health care and welfare.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Sciences, School of Health Sciences, Gunma University, Gunma, Japan. ogawara@health.gunma-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Hatsue
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ogawara
authors.forename: Tomoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.forename: Yasuyoshi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Asakawa
authors.forename: Kiyotaka
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Iwasaki
authors.forename: Tamiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsuda
authors.forename: Yumiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Abe
authors.forename: Fusae
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tozato
authors.forename: Takatoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Makino
authors.forename: Misako
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koizumi
authors.forename: Takako
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yasukawa
authors.forename: Hideomi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Watanabe