Interprofessional Education in an Orthodontic Outreach Training Centre

Interprofessional education (IPE) describes those occasions when students from two or more professions learn about, from and with each other to enable effective collaboration and improve health outcomes. In the UK, orthodontic treatment is now delivered by a highly skilled team. Historically, education and training for orthodontic team members has been delivered 'uniprofessionally' in secondary care hospital settings, despite 96% of dental care, including orthodontics, being delivered in primary care. This paper describes an evaluation of IPE in Leamington Spa Orthodontics (LSO), a University-approved, primary care outreach training centre, where all members of the orthodontic team deliver patient care and are educated together in an IPE environment. The study methodology is realist evaluation, which aims to describe and understand the educational environment and identify how stakeholders perceive their experiences. This study describes a quality assured, primary care model of integrated education and patient care, which enhances interprofessionality and offers an alternative strategy for the future for commissioning of education and clinical care.