A learner developed longitudinal interprofessional education curriculum

Increased patient safety requires interprofessional collaboration, now critical given rising healthcare costs and an aging population with complex and chronic conditions. One way in which to educate future health care team members about team dynamics is to have them learn through active participation on a team. Six students representing the five health professions programs at the University of California, San Francisco formed a curriculum development team that created a novel yearlong interprofessional education curriculum and assessed its impact on knowledge, skills and attitudes of first-year learners in medicine, physical therapy, dentistry, nursing, and pharmacy (n = 480). Through their participation on the curriculum development team and reflection on their roles, responsibilities, communication and negotiation, the six students developed the inter-personal and intra-personal skills required for successful interprofessional collaboration.