Interprofessional Education and Practice Guide No. 1: developing faculty to effectively facilitate interprofessional...

Area of Science:

• Health Professions Education
• Interprofessional Education (IPE)
• Faculty Development

Background:

• Increasing demand for interprofessional education (IPE) in health professions schools requires faculty to lead and deliver new curricula.
• Many faculty members feel unprepared for the complexities of implementing interprofessional education initiatives.

Purpose of the Study:

• To pilot a faculty development course designed to prepare academic health center faculty leaders for interprofessional education.
• To identify key lessons learned from a faculty development initiative aimed at fostering interprofessional education innovation.

Main Methods:

• A pilot faculty development course was implemented from 2012-2013, involving eight academic health centers.
• The course utilized diverse methods: didactic teaching, small group exercises, IPE immersion, local project implementation, and peer learning.
• Ongoing coaching and mentoring were provided, focusing on practical participation in IPE activities.

Main Results:

• The program successfully equipped participating sites to introduce interprofessional education innovations.
• Faculty participants affirmed the program's value and recommended broader implementation of similar faculty development efforts.
• Key success factors included a faculty development community for peer learning, curriculum adaptation to local contexts, and experiential learning.

Conclusions:

• Faculty development programs are crucial for preparing educators to lead interprofessional education.
• A combination of peer learning, contextual adaptation, experiential engagement, and coaching significantly contributes to successful faculty development for IPE.
• The findings support the scalability of this faculty development model to enhance interprofessional education across academic health centers.