The AdvICE course: leveraging clinician experience in interprofessional education to promote collaborative practice

As part of the global agenda to increase the interprofessional collaborative practice capability of the healthcare workforce, it is recognized that post-qualification health professionals require interprofessional education (IPE) to upskill them in the key competencies of collaborative practice. Previously published accounts of IPE initiatives directed as post-qualification health professionals have been based in a specific practice setting within a health service or related to a specific health condition. Differing from these initiatives, the Advancing Interdisciplinary Clinical Excellence (AdvICE) IPE course is offered to experienced clinicians across settings and professions in a large regional Australian health service. This study evaluated the impact of the AdvICE course on participants' interprofessional collaborative practice beliefs, attitudes and behaviours. Pre- and post-course completion of the Interprofessional Socialization and Valuing Scale (ISVS-21) demonstrated that participants experienced improvements in self-perceived interprofessional beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours, and willingness to work in interprofessional relationships. Participants also reported interprofessional learning related to role clarification, interprofessional communication, conflict resolution, clinical teaching and supervision. Interprofessional education initiatives, such as the AdvICE course, that target experienced clinicians across a health service may be valuable in contributing to the World Health Organization's recommendation to develop champions of interprofessional collaborative practice.