Promoting partnership working for undergraduate students

Interprofessional working is an important NHS policy aim (Department of Health 2000; Barrett et al 2005), which has meant that interprofessional education (IPE) is an increasingly important topic for higher education institutions (Caldwell and Atwal, 2003; Barr and Ross, 2006). The argument for IPE is based on the assumption that it will enhance interprofessional working and assist in ameliorating many of the challenges of contemporary health-care. However, there is a dearth of evidence of the effectiveness of IPE in the UK, particularly at undergraduate level. This does not necessarily mean that IPE is ineffective, but suggests the need to explore ways of introducing and evaluating IPE locally for undergraduate students. This article reports on an evaluation of a pilot IPE initiative for undergraduate students from different disciplines, in an attempt to consider how sustainable IPE could be introduced in one institution.