Component Analysis of the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) in a Graduate and Professional Educational Context

In the United States, collaborative practice models for delivering patient-centered care are central to health-care reform. In response, graduate and professional education in health-related disciplines are increasingly prioritizing interprofessional education (IPE). The Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) is one of only a few instruments used to assess the processes of IPE. However, since the original publication [1], studies across the globe using RIPLS have found the instrument’s factor structure to vary between 2, and 4 factors.

In this study, the first replication study of the psychometric properties of RIPLS conducted in the Unites States since 2006, the authors explored the latent structure in an administration of RIPLS to graduate and professional students at the outset of their programs in medicine, physician assistant practice, pharmacy, and public health (n=130). Using principal component analysis, the authors found RIPLS to have a three component structure: 1) shared learning, 2) teamwork and collaboration, and 3) role distinction/uncertainty. These three components accounted for a larger percentage of cumulative variance (65.91%) than any previously published results—even those reporting a four-factor solution. Future research should explore the predictive value of these dimensions on operational and student learning outcomes in IPE.