The findings of the present study showed that increase in the current
year of study enhanced the RIPLS as well as the teamwork and collaboration
and the role and responsibility subscales of the RIPLS. Considering
teamwork and collaboration, the mean scores of third and fourth year
students were respectively 1.75 and 1.94 folds higher than that of the
first year students. This finding was in line with the results indicating
significant relationships between years of study and the three RIPLS
subscales. It has also been reported that collaborative teamwork
enhanced as the students' education and clinical setting exposure
increased. These researchers revealed that themean score of teamwork
and collaboration in the third year students was 1.18 folds higher than
the first year students and 1.84 folds higher than the second year ones
(Williams et al., 2013). In our study, increase in the year of study
increased the positive attitude toward the role and responsibility
subscale of RIPLS, which is similar to other studies conducted on the
issue (Williams et al., 2013). In this study, with regard to the role and
responsibility subscale of RIPLS, the mean score of the third and seventh
year students was respectively 1.03 and 1.24 folds higher than that of
the first year students. It has been shown that identification of roles
and responsibilities also enhanced from the second year to the third
year, with the mean difference of 0.71 (Williams et al., 2013). Increase
in the years of study might enhance exposure, responsibility, and the
impact on readiness to perform roles and responsibilities.