A Case Study of Organizational and Curricular Attributes for Interprofessional Education: A Model for Sustainable Curriculum Delivery

• Published in: Journal of research in interprofessional practice and education Vol. 13; no. 1; pp. 1 - 27
• Main Authors: Azzam, Mohammad B., Drynan, Donna, Fricke, Moni, Langlois, Sylvia, MacDonald, Laura, Vanier, Marie-Claude, Puvirajah, Anton
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Vancouver Canadian Institute for Studies in Publishing Press (Simon Fraser University at Harbour Centre) 01.01.2023; Canadian Institute for Studies in Publishing Press Simon Fraser University
• Subjects: Academic Standards; Accreditation; Accreditation (Institutions); Case studies; Curricula; Interprofessional education; Professional education
• ISSN: 1916-7342; 1916-7342
• DOI: 10.22230/jripe.2023v13n1a351

Background: In health and social care (HASC) professional education, interprofessional competencies are optimally developed by engaging in interprofessional education (IPE) activities that are delivered sustainably along a continuum. Ultimately, active engagement in IPE is meant to prepare future practitioners for interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP), which leads to improved patient/client and community-oriented outcomes. Methods and Findings: This qualitative case study explores how four Canadian post-secondary institutions deliver IPE within their HASC professional education programmatic structures. Data were collected from institutional websites, publicly available IPE relevant records and documents, and interviews with coordinators and faculty/facilitators of IPE curriculum. Data were inductively analyzed to generate relevant themes, followed by a deductive analysis guided by the five accreditation standards domains identified in the Accreditation of Interprofessional Health Education (AIPHE) projects. Analyses of the data resulted in five attributes: 1) central administrative unit, 2) longitudinal and integrative program, 3) theoretically informed curriculum design, 4) student-centred pedagogy, and 5) patient/client-oriented approach. Conclusions: Using these attributes and guided by AIPHE’s accreditation standards domains, an organizational-curricular model for sustainable IPE is proposed, through which we assert that IPE reinforced through these organizational and curricular supports reflects successful programming, leading to patient/client-oriented outcomes.