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Interprofessional education seeks to encourage different health professions to interact and learn together during their training process which will eventually lead to collaborative healthcare practices and improved care for patients. This study determined whether student understanding of diabetes management and the role of health professionals in diabetes care improved after the implementation of an interprofessional health promotion program. Sixty-three students from five health professions led six educational sessions concentrating on critical components of diabetes management.

PURPOSE: This article presents a descriptive research study that investigated the issues discussed in rehabilitation case conferences, with specific reference to patients with acquired communication disabilities of neurological origin.

PubMed URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20178422

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.

Interprofessional (IP) collaboration is recognized as critical for patient-centred care. The clinical setting is an ideal environment for students to learn the competencies required to effectively work with providers from other professions. To enhance traditional clinical placements, we propose an IP mentoring approach, defined as learning that takes place between providers and students who are from different disciplines or health professions. In IP mentoring, students have primary relationships with their preceptors, but also have interactions with providers from other professions.

CONTEXT:

Interprofessional education of pre-licensure students is viewed as an important precursor to developing healthcare professionals who are able to work collaboratively.

OBJECTIVES:

This study conducted a program evaluation of an innovative interprofessional communication skills initiative which incorporated problem-based learning, cooperative learning and standardized patients.

METHODS:

Although a core component of many current health-care directions, interprofessional collaboration continues to challenge educators and health professionals. This paper aims to inform the development of collaborative practice by illuminating the experiences of collaborating within rehabilitation teams. The researchers focused on experiences that transcended team members' professional role categorizations in order to bring individuals and their lived experiences to the forefront.

INTRODUCTION:

Studies exploring the role of patients in interprofessional education (IPE) are found primarily in undergraduate programmes with few reporting on the postgraduate (continuing professional development) setting. This paper describes an interprofessional quality improvement project around the management of back pain in a primary care setting where patients were part of the practice team.

METHODS:

BACKGROUND:

The hurricane disasters of 2005 and the threat of pandemic infectious diseases compel medical educators to develop emergency preparedness training for medical students and other health care professional students.

DESCRIPTION:

"Seamless Care" was one of 21 grants awarded by Health Canada to inform policymakers of the effectiveness of interprofessional education in promoting collaborative patient-centred practice among health professionals. The "Seamless Care" model of interprofessional education was designed with input from three Faculties at Dalhousie University (Medicine, Dentistry and Health Professions). The design was grounded in relevant learning theories--Social Cognitive Theory, Self-efficacy, Situated Learning theory and Constructivism.