title: The effectiveness of a shared conference experience in improving undergraduate medical and nursing students' attitudes towards inter-professional education in an Asian country: a before and after study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In recent years, increasing emphasis has been placed on the importance of collaboration within multi-disciplinary healthcare teams, so as to facilitate holistic patient care and thus allow improved treatment outcomes. There is hence an urgent need to educate healthcare undergraduates early in their professional careers on the importance of and complexities involved in cooperating with counterparts from other allied healthcare professions. In conjunction with this, a milestone student-led conference for undergraduate students, the 9th Student Medical-Nursing Education Conference (SMEC), was organised in 2013 to provide a unique opportunity for shared learning among the entire cohort of undergraduate medical and nursing students in Singapore matriculating in that year.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study evaluated the effectiveness of the 9th SMEC 2013 as a shared conference experience in improving the attitudes of undergraduate medical and nursing students in Singapore towards inter-professional education (IPE). A 19-point Readiness for Inter-Professional Learning Scale (RIPLS) questionnaire comprising three subscales was administered to participants both before and after the conference. 352 responses were collected, giving a response rate of 75.1 %. Results were analysed using paired-samples t-tests with statistical significance set at p = 0.05.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Improvements in overall scores for both medical and nursing students were reported for all three RIPLS subscales. Examining the RIPLS items individually, significant improvement in scores for both medical and nursing students was obtained in all 19 items. Prior exposure to IPE activities was not a predictor of improvement in IPE attitudes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The authors propose that student-led jointly-organised conference experiences are effective in improving healthcare students' attitudes towards IPE. This study provides valuable insights to facilitate the development of further IPE programs to allow for the rapid and effective promotion of cooperation and collaboration between students across various healthcare disciplines.
authors.affiliation: Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, National University Health System, Singapore, Singapore. ameliachua.27@u.nus.edu.
authors.forename: Amelia Ze
authors.initials: AZ
authors.lastname: Chua
authors.affiliation: Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, National University Health System, Singapore, Singapore. daryl.lo@u.nus.edu.
authors.forename: Daryl Yk
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Lo
authors.affiliation: Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, National University Health System, Singapore, Singapore. wilbert.ho@u.nus.edu.
authors.forename: Wilbert Hh
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.affiliation: Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, National University Health System, Singapore, Singapore. koh.yun.qing@u.nus.edu.
authors.forename: Yun Qing
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Koh
authors.affiliation: Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, National University Health System, Singapore, Singapore. daniel.limsiyuan@u.nus.edu.
authors.forename: Daniel Sy
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, National University Health System, Singapore, Singapore. john_tam@nuhs.edu.sg.
authors.forename: John Kc
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Tam
authors.affiliation: Alice Lee Center for Nursing Studies, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, National University Health System, Singapore, Singapore. sok_ying_liaw@nuhs.edu.sg.
authors.forename: Sok Ying
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Liaw
authors.affiliation: Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health and Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, National University Health System, Singapore, Singapore. gerald_koh@nuhs.edu.sg.
authors.forename: Gerald Ch
authors.initials: GCh
authors.lastname: Koh
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003226:Congresses as Topic; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D004508:Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D058025:Interdisciplinary Studies; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D008297:Male; D012846:Singapore; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult