Interprofessional education (IPE) is a strategy to enhance collaboration among health professionals from different disciplines. IPE aims to improve health outcomes by enabling students to learn about, from, and with each other, and to develop skills and competencies for effective teamwork. IPE also fosters mutual understanding and respect among health professionals, and promotes a culture of patient-centered care.
IPE has been recognized as an innovative approach to address the challenges of health workforce shortages, quality of care, and patient safety. The World Health Organization (WHO) has developed a framework for action on IPE and collaborative practice, which provides guidance and recommendations for policymakers, educators, managers, and practitioners. The framework highlights the importance of aligning IPE with health system needs, engaging stakeholders, creating supportive environments, developing interprofessional curricula, and evaluating outcomes.
Several examples of successful IPE initiatives have been reported in the literature, such as the Rural Interprofessional Health Initiative (RIPHI) and Carolina Student Services Corps at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-Chapel Hill), which involved over 3,000 students in an unfolding case focusing on rural population health, and over 1,800 students volunteering for pandemic relief. Another example is the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) Institute, which offers virtual workshops for interprofessional teams and individuals to acquire the building blocks for IPE and collaborative practice.
IPE is a promising solution to transform health systems and improve health outcomes through interprofessional collaboration. However, there are still many challenges and barriers to implement and sustain IPE, such as lack of resources, leadership, faculty development, accreditation standards, and evidence of impact. Therefore, more research and evaluation are needed to demonstrate the effectiveness and value of IPE, and to identify best practices and lessons learned.
References:
– World Health Organization. (2010). Framework for action on interprofessional education & collaborative practice. https://www.who.int/publications-detail-redirect/framework-for-action-on-interprofessional-education-collaborative-practice
– University of Florida. (n.d.). What is Interprofessional Education (IPE)? https://education.health.ufl.edu/about/what-is-ipe/
– Interprofessional Education Collaborative. (n.d.). Home. https://www.ipecollaborative.org/
– Kimani, S., Mwaura-Tenambergen, W., & Njoroge-Krüger, G. (2022). The implementation of interprofessional education: a scoping review protocol. Advances in Health Sciences Education, 27(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-022-10128-4
