Evaluating the Health “Hubs and Spokes” Interprofessional Placements in Rural New South Wales, Australia

Australia has been relatively slow in adopting interprofessional learning (IPL) to prepare health professional students for future collaborative professional practice. A collaborative project between two universities placed senior health professional students in IPL teams in rural southeast New South Wales, Australia, to work on small, locally relevant projects with guidance from locally appointed IPL facilitators. This paper reports on the initial stages of an evaluation of this rural-based IPL intervention using the modified Freeth/Kirkpatrick's 4-level evaluation model. Methods: Students' responses were collected using a debriefing questionnaire, the Interprofessional Education Perception (IEPS) and Team Performance (TPS) scales. An audience feedback questionnaire was structured around project objectives. Results: Seventy-nine students participated in 33 IPL teams during the evaluation period included in this study. IEPS scores increased with participation (t=2.803; p=0.007). The TPS showed a statistically significant difference between teams (ANOVA, F(31,45) = 1.982, p=0.018) and a trend toward agreement with audience perceptions of team performance. Conclusions: The evaluation demonstrated positive short-term outcomes suggesting benefits of this applied approach in preparing students to work interprofessionally.