Teaching interprofessional collaboration: using online education across institutions

Area of Science:

• Health Professions Education
• Interprofessional Collaboration
• Online Learning

Background:

• Interdisciplinary training is vital for allied health professions, particularly in early intervention and school settings.
• Effective teamwork, communication, and role understanding are critical for pre-service health professionals.
• Implementing interprofessional education (IPE) faces significant logistical and scheduling hurdles in traditional academic settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To discuss the challenges and innovations in developing and delivering online interprofessional education (IPE) courses.
• To explore solutions for logistical, time-related, and social presence barriers in interprofessional learning.
• To facilitate collaboration among occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech-language pathology students through a shared online educational experience.

Main Methods:

• Development and delivery of two interprofessional education courses in a fully online format.
• Addressing challenges related to cross-institutional scheduling and time constraints.
• Implementing strategies to foster social presence and engagement in the virtual learning environment.

Main Results:

• Successfully developed and delivered online IPE courses across two institutions, overcoming logistical barriers.
• Identified key innovations for managing time factors and enhancing social presence in a virtual IPE setting.
• Demonstrated the feasibility of online IPE for preparing students for collaborative practice.

Conclusions:

• Online IPE offers a viable solution to the implementation challenges of interprofessional training in health sciences.
• Addressing logistical, temporal, and social factors is crucial for successful online interprofessional collaboration.
• This innovative online approach supports the development of essential collaborative skills for future allied health professionals.