Interpreter-mediated doctor-patient interactions: interprofessional education in the training of future interpreters and doctors

This paper reports on interprofessional education (IPE), a teaching and learning strategy that is widely used in healthcare training. IPE is structured and usually situation-based training that involves two or more groups of professionals. Desired learning outcomes for practitioners or trainees of both groups include learning how the other group works and how to optimise working with them, whilst also gaining perspectives of how others see their own group's work. Learning is achieved through participation in real or simulated activities. We address three research questions in looking at the achievement of learning outcomes for both interpreting and medical students: perceived usefulness of role-play as a component of IPE sessions, perceived increase of knowledge bases and the perceived usefulness of pre- and post-interactional (de-)briefings. Four IPE sessions were conducted involving 153 interpreting and medical students from late 2017 to early 2019 in Australia. A data sample based on 118 survey responses shows high levels of agreement that role-plays are a useful activity in IPE. Further, students record a high level of increase in their knowledge of the other professional group as well as of their own. The value of pre-interactional briefings and post-interactional exchanges is confirmed by all groups of informants.