American Research Journal of Nursing Original Article ISSN 2379-2922 Volume 1, Issue 3, August 2015 www.arjonline.org 7 Effects of an Online-Blended Interprofessional Education Program on Graduate Students in Psychiatric Nursing, Exercise Physiology, Nutrition and Pharmacy: A Pilot Study Lora Humphrey Beebe 1 , PhD, PMMHNP, BC, 2 Marian Roman, PhD; 3 Gary Skolits, PhD; 4 Hollie Raynor, PhD, RD, LDN; 5 Dixie Thompson, PhD; 6 Shaunta Ray, PharmD; 1 Professor & Coordinator, Psychiatric Mental Health Graduate Concentration 2 Nursing, University of Tennessee Knoxville USA 3 Education, University of Tennessee Knoxville USA 4 Nutrition, University of Tennessee Knoxville USA 5 Exercise Physiology, University of Tennessee Knoxville USA 6 Pharmacy, University of Tennessee Knoxville USA Abstract: Introduction: This article reports a pilot of the Recovery-Based Interprofessional Distance Education (RIDE) rotation - an interprofessional education (IPE) experience for graduate psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, pharmacy, nutrition and exercise physiology students. The program was offered in a blended format, with online content enhanced by a 3 day, team-based clinical intensive experience. Methods: In this pilot, participants ( N = 12) completed pre and post assessments before and after the experience. Results: Pretest scores on the benefits of team training and contributing insight to teams were high with pretest means of 4.7 and 4.5 respectively. The experience did not change participants' perception of team training benefits, nor their perception that they could contribute valuable insights to teams, but attitudes about offering assistance to team members were improved. Student participation and these preliminary results indicate that offering an IPE program in an online blended format is feasible and acceptable to both graduate students and faculty. Discussion: These results suggest that an IPE program can enhance practical, team-based skills in graduate nursing, pharmacy, nutrition and exercise physiology students and can be feasibly delivered using an online- blended approach. Conclusions: More research is needed examining formal IPE programs in graduate curricula, and the sustainability of such programs. Acknowledgement: This project was supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration, HRSA Grant number: D09HP25932-02-01 I. INTRODUCTION A large body of research demonstrates the high return on investment in terms of patient safety and quality of interprofessional practitioner education (IPE). It is less than ideal when practitioner students from different professions are educated in “silos” of their own disciplines and then expected to safely practice quality healthcare as a cohesive team (Irby, 2012).Many thought leaders propose we address new models of health practitioner education. In the Lancet report, Health Professionals for a New Century: Transforming Education to Strengthen Health Systems in an Interdependent World (Frenk, et al, 2011) there is a call to redesign instructional and educational strategies to improve health outcomes. Further, the establishment of the Core Competencies for Interprofessional Practice (Interprofessional Education-IPE Collaborative Expert Panel, 2011) set a direction for team-based practitioner education that will promote better transition for graduates into team-based care. IPE “occurs when two or more professions learn about, from and with each other to enable effective collaboration and improve health outcomes” (World Health Organization-WHO, 2010, p. 13). IPE is rapidly gaining ground in undergraduate 1 Corresponding Author: lbeebe1@utk.edu