Before we explore Interprofessional education, it is helpful to understand how it relates to collaborative practice, often referred to as interprofessional practice or interprofessional collaborative practice.
Collaborative practice “… happens when multiple health workers from different professional backgrounds work together with patients, families, carers and communities to deliver the highest quality of care” (World Health Organisation, 2010).
This is distinct from the following terms:
| Uni professional practice | a health professional who works within their own scope of practice with other professionals from the same discipline (e.g a physiotherapy private practice). Little collaboration with other professions. |
| Multi professional practice | a group of health care professionals from different professions who work within their own scope of practice, to generate profession specific care plans that are implemented simultaneously to provide patient/client care. Some communication between team members, e.g referrals, reading, case conference other medical note entries. |
| Interdisciplinary/ interprofessional practice | a group of healthcare professionals from different professions with a common purpose and goals who work in a coordinated way to develop a shared care plan to deliver patient care. Regular meetings and information exchange. |
| Transdisciplinary practice | at least two health professionals combine assessment, intervention and/or follow up to allow a single health professional to work beyond scope of practice where appropriate training is provided. |
Source: Victoria Health (2023) An interdisciplinary approach to caring. Victorian Department of Health: https://www.health.vic.gov.au/patient-care/an-interdisciplinary-approach-to-caring; Barr, H. & Low, H. (2013). Introducing interprofessional education. Retrieved from https://www.caipe.org/resources/caipe-publications; Department of Education and Training (2017) Fostering the development of transdisciplinary practice. State of Queensland. Retrieved from: https://earlychildhood.qld.gov.au/earlyYears/Documents/info-sheet-13-fostering-development-transdisciplinary-practice.pdf; Freeth, D. S., Hammick, M., Reeves, S., Koppel, I., & Barr, H. (2005). Effective interprofessional education: development, delivery, and evaluation. Wiley-Blackwell
So what is interprofessional education?
The relationship between interprofessional education and collaborative practice is illustrated below:
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In the seminal Framework for Action on Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice, the World Health Organisation (WHO) (2010) explains that interprofessional education occurs when: “…students from two or more professions learn about, from and with each other to enable effective collaboration and improve health outcomes” and is a critical requirement for collaborative practice.
The video below ‘Interprofessional Education for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice’ (00:02:05) outlines the barriers to successful interprofessional collaboration and how interprofessional education prepares students for interprofessional practice:
What interprofessional education is NOT?
The table below provides additional definitions and examples to highlight what IPE is and, what it is not:
| What is IPE | What it is not |
|
IPE requires significant interactivity between learners from the different professions to ensure opportunities to learn about, from and with each other. This is a prearranged opportunity for a number of students from varied professions to learn together for a period of time in the same setting as they perform typical activities of their profession as a team focused on client centred care |
Occasions when two or more professions learn side by side for whatever reason (This is multi-professional education). Learners from each profession learn and socialise in isolation from other professions. (This is uni-professional education) |
Adapted from: Ford, J. & Gray R. (2021) Interprofessional education handbook. CAIPE. Retrieved from https://www.caipe.org/topic/resources/publications/caipe-publications; Barr, H. & Low, H. (2013). Introducing interprofessional education. Retrieved from https://www.caipe.org/resources/caipe-publications; Khalili, H., Gilbert, J., Lising, D., MacMillan, K. M., Xyrichis, A. (2021). Proposed lexicon for the interprofessional field. A reprint publication by InterprofessionalResearch.Global (ISBN: 978-1-7366963-1-6). Retrieved from https://interprofessionalresearch.global/
References:
References remain valid until superseded by later research. The resources referenced here are regularly reviewed and are considered current and relevant to the topics presented:
- Barr, H. & Low, H. (2013). Introducing interprofessional education. Retrieved from https://www.caipe.org/resources/caipe-publications
- Brewer, M. L., & Barr, H. (2016). Interprofessional education and practice guide no. 8: Team-based interprofessional practice placements. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 30(6), 747-753.
- Centre for the Advancement of Interprofessional Education (CAIPE), (2023). Defining IPE. Retrieved from https://www.caipe.org/about
- Department of Education and Training (2017) Fostering the development of transdisciplinary practice. State of Queensland. Retrieved from: https://earlychildhood.qld.gov.au/earlyYears/Documents/info-sheet-13-fostering-development-transdisciplinary-practice.pdf
- Ford, J. & Gray R. (2021) Interprofessional education handbook. CAIPE. Retrieved from https://www.caipe.org/topic/resources/publications/caipe-publications
- Freeth, D. S., Hammick, M., Reeves, S., Koppel, I., & Barr, H. (2005). Effective interprofessional education: development, delivery, and evaluation. Wiley-Blackwell.
- Khalili, H., Gilbert, J., Lising, D., MacMillan, K. M., Xyrichis, A. (2021). Proposed lexicon for the interprofessional field. A reprint publication by InterprofessionalResearch.Global (ISBN: 978-1-7366963-1-6). Retrieved from https://interprofessionalresearch.global/
- Victoria Health (2023) An interdisciplinary approach to caring. Victorian Department of Health: https://www.health.vic.gov.au/patient-care/an-interdisciplinary-approach-to-caring
- World Health Organisation (2010) Framework for action on interprofessional education and collaborative practice. Retrieved from: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/framework-for-action-on-interprofessional-education-collaborative-practice
