Models in interprofessional education: the IP enhancement approach as effective alternative.

OBJECTIVE: This article discusses the strategies and challenges of implementing interprofessional education interventions with students from different disciplines. It reviews two models of interprofessional education in academic prelicensure curricula including the extra-curricular and the crossbar models by considering ease of implementation, program reach and sustainability. It also introduces the interprofessional enhancement approach as an additional curriculum development strategy.

RESULTS: The Alberta Interprofessional Education for Collaborative Patient-Centred Practice project used the Interprofessional Enhancement Approach by integrating course content into existing placement courses for nursing, respiratory therapy, pharmacy, and physiotherapy students. The students conducted their regular discipline-specific placements at various clinical sites in southern Alberta, Canada that were supplemented by three interprofessional strategies: mentoring, workshops and online discussions. The intervention reached over sixty individuals including students, preceptors and faculty.

CONCLUSION: As compared to other approaches (extra-curricular and crossbar models), this approach shows that IP course content can be added to placement courses without restructuring complete curricula. This article intends to initiate further discussions about different IP education models in prelicensure education.