Development of an Interprofessional Education Experiential Learning Curriculum

Today's healthcare system is facing many challenges, such as changes in the population, a shift from acute to chronic degenerative conditions, and disparities in access and outcomes. An integrative health approach, in combination with interprofessional collaborative practice, is viewed as an effective response to these changing demands. Curricular strategies must be developed and implemented that help prepare health professions students for these ongoing changes in the health delivery system. In this paper, we provide lessons learned from a 5-year interprofessional education (IPE) experiential learning curriculum for graduate physician assistant, physical therapy, and occupational therapy students and undergraduate nursing students. The program's experience suggests the need for common knowledge across disciplines, extensive faculty involvement, institutional support and flexibility, and ongoing community engagement. With these key elements in place, authors believe IPE learning can be successfully implemented with a wide range of graduate and undergraduate health professions disciplines and diverse community partners.