Developing and implementing interprofessional learning in a faculty of health professions

Interprofessional education enables health professional students to learn together in order to work together. The Faculty of Health Professions at Dalhousie University has developed interprofessional learning within the core curriculum of eight educational programs. An interprofessional coordinator consulted with students and faculty to prepare a collective statement of the purpose, learning models, and implementation principles of interprofessional learning. Planning, implementation, and evaluation of a first interprofessional module, Professional Ethics: Issues of Autonomy, was carried out by the Interprofessional Working Group with representation from all programs in the faculty. 437 students (25-30 per session) participated in the first three-hour interprofessional module, which was offered in 16 evening sessions. Evaluation themes included the positive aspect of contact and discussion with students from other health professions, and the need to include medical students. The Faculty of Health Professions is planning to improve upon this first module, introduce other modules, and extend contact with other university faculties and community professionals.