Objective 1: Describe Situations and Settings in which IPE Occurs

“Occasions when two or more professionals learn with, from and about one another to improve collaboration and the quality of care”
(Centre of Inter-professional Education, 1997).

Where can this happen?

Students in the health sciences are traditionally taught within their own schools and programs and there are many challenges in terms of timetabling, teaching resources (human and financial), attitudes, and more, that seem to pose barriers to IPE. However, with collaboration and innovative thinking, many opportunities for IPE can occur within the academic setting. Examples of IPE activities in the academic setting at Queen’s are:

  • IP half/full day workshops on intellectual disability and domestic violence
  • Computer based interactive learning modules on clinical case examples exploring roles of all practitioners
  • Collaborative IP student research projects
  • Clinical Education Centre learning with patient volunteers
  • An IP course for professionals in rural practice
  • A “Lived Experience of Disability” course where students are matched with people with disabilities as their teachers

Some benefits and challenges of IPE in the academic setting:

Benefits for students Challenges
  • introduced to IP team culture from the start
  • gain awareness and knowledge of other professional roles (learning with, from and about each other)
  • social and professional networking
  • gain respect for other professionals
  • avoids stereotyping
  • learn to collaborate on projects and in learning
  • facilitates the transition from academic setting to IP practice
  • timetabling and scheduling when each school/program has its own curriculum structure and sequence
  • attitudes and resistance to change
  • resources

Opportunities for IPE in academic courses, workshops and student research projects can begin in the first year and be integrated throughout a student’s program, but this only provides a foundation for practice. As with profession specific clinical skills, IP collaborative practice skills can be learned only through experience in a real-life clinical setting and with the role models of collaborative healthcare teams.