Impact of interprofessional student led health clinics for patients, students and educators: a scoping review

Background: Although interprofessional student led health clinics have been implemented worldwide, the impact of this model await confirmation. Objectives: To conduct a critical analysis of the literature on interprofessional student led clinics, and the views of stakeholders on feasibility and the barriers and facilitators to implementation. Design: A scoping review, evidence synthesis and quality appraisal were conducted using PRISMA Scr. Eight databases were searched from 2003 to 2023: Medline (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), CINAHL (EBSCO), Cochrane, Scopus, ERIC, Web of Science and Informit Health Collection. A qualitative descriptive approach was used to analyse data from patients, students and educators and inductive thematic analysis identified emergent themes. Results: Forty-six studies were included from a yield of 3140 publications. A key theme to emerge was that patients perceived improvements in their health and wellbeing and valued gaining health information from student led clinics. Student experiences were mostly positive although some found it challenging to work in interprofessional teams and roles were not always clear. The clinics enabled students to improve communication skills and autonomy. Clinical educators reported that students benefited from experiential learning within an interprofessional context. The clinics were feasible, provided that sufficient funding, infrastructure, staff and resources were available. Barriers to implementation included lack of funding, excessive waiting times and non-aligned student timetables. Pre-clinic orientation and support from on-site clinical educators facilitated implementation. Conclusions: Despite some challenges with implementing interprofessional student led clinics, they can have a positive impact on student learning and patient experiences.