Resource Center

This study aimed to determine the core competencies that underpin the practice of community rehabilitation (CR) practitioners working in a single state in Australia. Using a recursive and consultative methodology designed to build consensus, CR professionals, trainers, educators, and researchers developed a preliminary set of core interprofessional competencies that were considered essential to their practice.

Interprofessional education (IPE) in clinical practice is believed to improve outcomes in health care delivery. Integrating teaching and learning objectives through cross discipline student interaction in basic sciences has the potential to initiate interprofessional collaboration at the early stages of health care education. Student attitudes and effectiveness of IPE in the context of a combined gross anatomy course for first-year students in Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) and Doctor of Medicine (MD) degrees curricula were evaluated.

To achieve effective interprofessional learning there must be effective teaching. In this study we analyse the impact of a Masters level two day course designed to prepare teachers for their role(s) in the design development and facilitation of interprofessional student groups. Since its inception the course has run periodically each year attracting over 70 health and social care teachers from academic and practice settings.

OBJECTIVE:

PROBLEM ADDRESSED: A number of agencies that accredit university health sciences programs recently added standards for the acquisition of knowledge and skills with respect to interprofessional collaboration. Within primary care settings there are no practical training programs that allow students from different disciplines to develop competencies in this area.

The ability to work with professionals from other disciplines to deliver collaborative, patient-centred care is considered a critical element of professional practice requiring a specific set of competencies. However, a generally accepted framework for collaborative competencies is missing, which makes consistent preparation of students and staff challenging. Some authors have argued that there is a lack of conceptual clarity of the "active ingredients" of collaboration relating to quality of care and patient outcomes, which may be at the root of the competencies issue.

There is limited research on how health professionals are currently socialized to work interprofessionally. As part of a large-scale initiative funded by Health Canada, this report adds to our understanding of socialization and how it can prepare the health care student for an interprofessional health care environment. Data were collected through semistructured individual and group interviews with 83 respondents (i.e., faculty, students, health care and academic administrators, and health care providers) at seven clinical sites and five academic institutions throughout Alberta.

PubMed URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19995269

BACKGROUND:

Interprofessional education (IPE) is being led by a driving force of teaches who advocate for the importance of this learning within health and social care professional curriculum. Many of these leaders have additional uni professional teaching responsibilities.

AIMS:

This study aimed to explore the impact of leading an IPE curriculum on teachers, who were at the forefront of establishing a new IPE curriculum in the east midlands, UK.

METHODS:

With longer survival, individuals living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection are facing a multitude of health-related challenges due to HIV, its associated concurrent health conditions, and treatments. Despite the need for rehabilitation, few rehabilitation professionals work with people living with HIV, with many feeling they lack adequate knowledge and skills to assess and treat this population.