Developing an Evidence-Based Interprofessional Education (IPE) Program

Hoffart, Nancy

Friday, 26 July 2013: 10:35 AM

Nancy Hoffart, PhD, RN
Alice Ramez Chagoury School of Nursing, Lebanese American University, Byblos, Lebanon

Learning Objective 1: Identify influential reports and documents that provide guidance for developing an interprofessional education (IPE) program.

Learning Objective 2: Formulate approaches for integrating IPE experiences into the nursing curriculum.

Purpose: As early as 2003 the Institute of Medicine called for multidisciplinary education as an essential aspect in educating future health professionals. More recently the report, “Health Professionals for a New Century,” (Frenk et al., 2010) and the Interprofessional Education Collaborative’s Core Competencies (2011) have reinforced the need for IPE in prelicensure health professions' curricula. The objectives of this presentation are to 1) report findings from a review of research and case-based literature on prelicensure IPE, 2) describe how the evidence has supported development of an IPE program at the Lebanese American University (LAU), and 3) identify how IPE is being incorporated into the BSN curriculum.

Methods: LAU is an American university located in Lebanon and offers degrees in nursing, medicine, pharmacy, nutrition/dietetics, and social work. The new Schools of Nursing and Medicine were opened with a mandate from the LAU Board of Trustees to incorporate multidisciplinary learning into the educational programs. When planning for IPE began in 2010 the School of Pharmacy and School of Arts and Sciences (BS nutrition and BA social work) enthusiastically joined the initiative.

A group of 13 faculty from the 5 health and social care professions programs volunteered to lead the initiative. An extensive review of the health care literature pertaining to prelicensure interprofessional and interdisciplinary education was conducted using Medline, CINAHL, Scopus and Cochrane data bases. Further evidence was sought through the web sites of international IPE centers and networks.

Results: The findings of the review guided the formulation of our mission, objectives, student learning outcomes, and program framework. The literature also was useful in identifying IPE content; teaching strategies for classroom, laboratory, and clinical experiences; and assessment and evaluation methods.

Conclusion: In our first two years over 475 students and 40 faculty have participated in educational activities in classroom and clinical settings, with evaluation findings positive overall.

See more of: Initiatives in Developing Interprofessional Education
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