Challenges and opportunities in interprofessional education and practice

Interprofessional Education (IPE) is essential in modern medical education, emphasising collaboration among healthcare professionals to improve patient outcomes. Many medical schools have integrated IPE into their curricula with courses, simulations, and clinical rotations, supported by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Interprofessional Collaborative Practice guidelines. In today's volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world, universities must prepare students for rapidly evolving healthcare environments through interdisciplinary approaches.

IPE fosters better communication, improved patient outcomes, reduced errors, and enhanced team work. However, challenges like curriculum integration, institutional resistance, effectiveness measurement, and resource allocation remain. The future of IPE is promising, with trends such as interprofessional leadership, advanced technologies, international collaborations, and supportive policies driving progress.

Join Dr. Samarasekera to learn about the National University of Singapore’s journey and learnings from the introduction of an interdisciplinary curriculum for Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy in August 2023.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

Health professionals and educators who are interested in designing interprofessional educational activities or developing and implementing interprofessional clinical programmes.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the webinar, participants will be able to:

• discuss the background of interprofessional education and clarify key conceptual frameworks
• explore why interprofessional education may not always lead to effective collaborative practice
• learn about conceptual frameworks to design interprofessional education and collaboration

SPEAKER

Dr. Dujeepa Samarasekera, head of the Centre for Medical Education (CenMED) at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, is a key opinion leader and expert in medical education. In 2023 he was honoured with the Public Administration Medal, presented by the President of Singapore, in recognition of his contribution and innovative approaches to medical and health professions education.

His expertise led to an invitation from The Lancet journal to contribute as the lead author on a commentary on Inter-Professional Education, as part of the Lancet Commission report on medical education in 2022. With an extensive publication record in health professions education, Dujeepa serves as the Editor-in-Chief of The Asia Pacific Medical Education Journal and is a visiting faculty member at several universities worldwide.

FACILITATOR

Professor Balakrishnan (Kichu) Nair brings significant experience in medical education through his roles as Director of Educational Research, HETI, Director of the Centre for Medical Professional Development, Hunter New England Health Service and Professor of Medicine and Associate Dean with the School of Medicine and Public Health at the University of Newcastle. Professor Nair is the editor-in-chief of HETI’s journal, Health Education in Practice, that publishes results of research into, and evaluation of, practice-based education of the workforce in health, including discussions of theoretical issues related to health education.