Collaborative practice “…. occurs when healthcare providers work with people from within their own profession, with people outside of their profession, and with patients/clients and their families.” (The Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative  CIHC, February 2009). An important note is that trust and value is required so that healthcare providers can consult with each other without worrying about seeming unknowledgeable.

Way, Jones and Baskerville (2001) identify 7 essential elements for collaboration: mutual trust and respect, autonomy, responsibility, communication, coordination, assertiveness and cooperation. Interprofessional education (IPE) can enable students and practitioners to learn these elements, knowledge and skills to practice interprofessional collaborative practice.

The most appropriate way for students to learn to practice in a collaborative and interprofessional manner is through IPE. The definition of IPE commonly used is from the Centre on Advancement of Interprofessional Education (CAIPE, 2002) which states that “IPE occurs when two or more professions learn with, from and about each other in order to improve collaboration and the quality of care.”

IPE for health professions is becoming a major movement in our changing health and education environments and through which there are many benefits for patients, health care providers, students, and quality and rewarding work environments.

A helpful resource is “Frequently asked questions about interprofessional education” by CIHC which can be accessed at http://www.cihc.ca/resources/faqs.

Faculty of Medicine

The Faculty of Medicine is committed to the integration of interprofessional education opportunities for undergraduate students, residents and subspecialty trainees using the Can MEDS collaborator role learning objectives as a foundation. The CanMEDS collaborator role competencies, created by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) have been adopted recently by the College of Family Medicine of Canada (CFPC) and the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada (AFMC) for undergraduate medical students. Historically, the CanMEDS collaborator role was taught in didactic seminars or at the bedside using an apprenticeship model as the teaching method. This time-honoured method has now been replaced by requirements for explicit learning opportunities for students and residents from different professions to learn from, with and about each other, to increase professional role clarity for shared care and to improve strategies for conflict resolution. The evidence is strong that patient-centred collaborative practice will enhance patient safety, quality of care and will improve career satisfaction. National accreditation standards for IPE have been harmonized for 6 health professions including medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy, pharmacy and social work.      

Dr Heather Dean is the coordinator of IPE in the Faculty of Medicine. She is a member of the IPE liaison committee. There are over 20 other faculty members, staff and medical students actively participating in the 6 IPE working groups of the University of Manitoba IPE initiative. For information about the programs and working groups, please contact Dr Heather Dean at 787-1316 or hdean@exchange.hsc.ca.