title: Faculty attitudes about interprofessional education.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Interprofessional education (IPE) is an important component to training health care professionals. Research is limited in exploring the attitudes that faculty hold regarding IPE and what barriers they perceive to participating in IPE. The purpose of this study was to identify faculty attitudes about IPE and to identify barriers to participating in campus-wide IPE activities.
  
  
  METHODS
  A locally used questionnaire called the Nebraska Interprofessional Education Attitudes Scale (NIPEAS) was used to assess attitudes related to interprofessional collaboration. Questions regarding perceived barriers were included at the end of the questionnaire. Descriptive and non-parametric statistics were used to analyze the results in aggregate as well as by college. In addition, open-ended questions were analyzed using an immersion/crystallization framework to identify themes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results showed that faculty had positive attitudes of IPE, indicating that is not a barrier to participating in IPE activities. Most common barriers to participation were scheduling conflicts (x24,285=19.17,p=0.001), lack of department support (x24,285=10.09,p=0.039), and lack of awareness of events (x24,285=26.38,p=0.000). Narrative comments corroborated that scheduling conflicts are an issue because of other priorities. Those who commented also added to the list of barriers, including relevance of the activities, location, and prior negative experiences.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  With faculty attitudes being positive, the exploration of faculty's perceived barriers to IPE was considered even more important. Identifying these barriers will allow us to modify our IPE activities from large, campus-wide events to smaller activities that are longitudinal in nature, embedded within current curriculum and involving more authentic experiences.
authors.affiliation: Office of Medical Education, College of Medicine, University of Nebraska, Omaha, NE, USA; gbeck@unmc.edu.
authors.forename: Gary L Beck
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Dallaghan
authors.affiliation: Physician Assistant Program, College of Allied Health Professions, University of Nebraska, Omaha, NE, USA.
authors.forename: Erin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hoffman
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, College of Public Health, University of Nebraska, Omaha, NE, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lyden
authors.affiliation: Continuing Nursing Education Office, College of Nursing, University of Nebraska, Omaha, NE, USA.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bevil
keywords: attitudes; barriers; faculty; interprofessional education