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Interprofessional Education

There is a history at Washington State University Health Sciences of strong interprofessional education (IPE) and the desire to enhance and expand an interprofessional curriculum for the future.

Interprofessional, collaborative and team-based education starts in the first year of the health professions programs. It includes classroom, laboratory and simulation events and it continues into the clinical years to prepare effective teams for collaborative practice.

There is a need for faculty development in interprofessional education as well as for continuing education for health care providers in interprofessional collaborative communication and team-based skills. Additionally, there are many community-engaged service-learning opportunities for students that are interprofessional.

Read WSU Spokane’s 2021 Interprofessional Annual Report here.

Contact

Jennifer Robinson, PharmD
Associate Vice President of Interprofessional Education
jenirobinson@wsu.edu
509-368-6676

Definitions

Interprofessional Education: “When students from two or more professions learn about, from and with each other to enable effective collaboration and improve health outcomes.” – World Health Organization (WHO)

Interprofessional Collaboration: “When multiple health workers from different professional backgrounds work together with patients, families, carers, and communities to deliver the highest quality of care.” – WHO

Interprofessional Teamwork: “The levels of cooperation, coordination and collaboration characterizing the relationships between professions in delivering patient-centered care.” – Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC)

Interprofessional Team-Based Care: “Care delivered by intentionally created, usually relatively small work groups in health care who are recognized by others as well as by themselves as having a collective identity and shared responsibility for a patient or group of patients (e.g., rapid response team, palliative care team, primary care team, and operating room team).” – IPEC

Organizations

Resources

Journals

Conferences – National and International