Next Steps: Teaching Future Generations an Interprofessional Approach to Diabetic Foot Ulcer Care.

INTRODUCTION

We aimed to assess the effectiveness of interprofessional teaching sessions focused on the care of patients with diabetic foot ulcers.

METHODS

We conducted a pre-/post-intervention, quasi-experimental study with repeat evaluations on either side of the teaching sessions (n = 28). Surveys and chart reviews were used to assess changes in attitude, knowledge, practice, and patient outcomes.

RESULTS

All 5 infectious disease fellows favorably reviewed the sessions. Positive baseline attitudes towards interprofessional care further improved with respect to shared learning and teamwork (5-point Likert scale scores pre- and post-session: 4.13 vs 4.44, respectively, P < 0.01). No other significant changes were observed.

DISCUSSION: Our sessions were associated with improved attitudes toward interprofessional care but likely need to be augmented with experiential learning to achieve practice and outcome improvements.