Designing a Novel Interprofessional and Inter-University Education Session for Healthcare Trainees to Improve Interprofessional Practice

Interprofessional education is widely acknowledged as critical for training successful clinicians, however logistical challenges often interfere with its implementation. The aim of this paper is to describe the procedures developed to enable students in different health professional programs in different geographic regions within the same country to learn about each other’s professions and apply this knowledge to optimize outcomes for patients. Principles from the Rehabilitation Treatment Specification System and Universal Design for Learning were combined to design an efficient and effective virtual approach to achieving interprofessional knowledge and collaborative skill outcomes. Application of these principles resulted in a 3-stage approach combining synchronous and asynchronous learning as well as didactic and problem-based learning. This paper describes the design and implementation for speech-language pathology and pharmacy students learning about swallowing disorders, but the procedures are applicable to a broad range of professions and academic content when interprofessional education is the goal.