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Background <p>Physical inactivity is a major contributor to chronic disease burden, and promoting physical activity has become a national priority in China’s primary healthcare system. Community pharmacists, who are highly accessible and increasingly involved in chronic disease management, are well positioned to support exercise-related care; however, formal training in exercise prescription remains limited within pharmacy education. Given the multidisciplinary nature of exercise prescription, this pilot study adopted an interprofessional education (IPE)–peer-assisted learning (PAL) framework to engage pharmacy and exercise physiology undergraduates in collaboratively developing integrated care plans combining medication management and exercise. The study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and educational value of this interprofessional training approach.</p> Methods <p>We implemented multi-modal interprofessional PAL activities involving self-directed readings, lectures, peer-assisted interaction and simulations. This project emphasized collaboration between pharmacy and exercise physiology students in designing care plans integrating medications and exercise. We employed SPICE-R2 instruments and open-ended reflection questions to assess the project’s effectiveness and analyzed reflection texts to inform future course design.</p> Results <p>Sixty pharmacy students and ten exercise physiology students completed all activities by June 2025. The total SPICE-R2 scores increased significantly following the interprofessional PAL activity. Domain-level analyses showed particularly notable improvements in “Roles/Responsibility” and “Outcome-based Education.” Case-based simulation was the most preferred learning method, whereas self-directed learning was the least preferred. Students recommended enhancing interprofessional communication through more frequent case-based simulations, accessible online platforms, and opportunities for collaborative research. They also revealed limited understanding of referral criteria and insufficient strategies for managing medication–exercise interactions.</p> Conclusion <p>In summary, this study indicated effectiveness of interprofessional PAL activity between pharmacy and exercise physiology undergraduates from different institutions, which improved the students’ perception in IPE and competency in exercise prescription. Future curricula should prioritize interprofessional simulation and integrated care planning, expand the number and diversity of simulation cases with brief preparatory teaching, and integrate medication–exercise interactions, special populations, and referral considerations to strengthen interprofessional teamwork.</p>

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Feasibility of peer-assisted interprofessional learning between pharmacy and exercise physiology students in providing integrated care

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年2月4日

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  • Wei Zhang,
  • Qiu Du,
  • Yan Zhao,
  • Li-yun Jiang,
  • Zhi-qiang Jing

摘要

Background

Physical inactivity is a major contributor to chronic disease burden, and promoting physical activity has become a national priority in China’s primary healthcare system. Community pharmacists, who are highly accessible and increasingly involved in chronic disease management, are well positioned to support exercise-related care; however, formal training in exercise prescription remains limited within pharmacy education. Given the multidisciplinary nature of exercise prescription, this pilot study adopted an interprofessional education (IPE)–peer-assisted learning (PAL) framework to engage pharmacy and exercise physiology undergraduates in collaboratively developing integrated care plans combining medication management and exercise. The study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and educational value of this interprofessional training approach.

Methods

We implemented multi-modal interprofessional PAL activities involving self-directed readings, lectures, peer-assisted interaction and simulations. This project emphasized collaboration between pharmacy and exercise physiology students in designing care plans integrating medications and exercise. We employed SPICE-R2 instruments and open-ended reflection questions to assess the project’s effectiveness and analyzed reflection texts to inform future course design.

Results

Sixty pharmacy students and ten exercise physiology students completed all activities by June 2025. The total SPICE-R2 scores increased significantly following the interprofessional PAL activity. Domain-level analyses showed particularly notable improvements in “Roles/Responsibility” and “Outcome-based Education.” Case-based simulation was the most preferred learning method, whereas self-directed learning was the least preferred. Students recommended enhancing interprofessional communication through more frequent case-based simulations, accessible online platforms, and opportunities for collaborative research. They also revealed limited understanding of referral criteria and insufficient strategies for managing medication–exercise interactions.

Conclusion

In summary, this study indicated effectiveness of interprofessional PAL activity between pharmacy and exercise physiology undergraduates from different institutions, which improved the students’ perception in IPE and competency in exercise prescription. Future curricula should prioritize interprofessional simulation and integrated care planning, expand the number and diversity of simulation cases with brief preparatory teaching, and integrate medication–exercise interactions, special populations, and referral considerations to strengthen interprofessional teamwork.