Planning of Interprofessional education initiatives for the development of interprofessional competencies: an...

Interprofessional education (IPE) initiatives must be based on an explicit pedagogy to ensure the development of interprofessional competencies. This article critically examines the planning of IPE initiatives created by participants in the national faculty development course PET-Health Interprofessionality in Brazil. A mixed-methods sequential exploratory design was utilized to conduct a documentary analysis. The data was collected from 143 instances of IPE planning. Data analysis comprised descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis. Our analysis revealed a trend in developing interprofessional competencies with inadequate attention to aligning these with common and specific professional competencies. While most plans referenced intricate methodologies and scenarios for IPE, they often lacked detailed explanations of how these strategies relate to developing interprofessional competencies. Few projects provided details concerning the format of their interprofessional initiative. The evaluation of interprofessional learning was a weak point across the proposals, highlighting a need for further scholarly attention. We conclude with a call for greater attention to faculty development efforts, emphasizing the intentional design of IPE for developing the interprofessional competencies needed to meet the challenges and demands of present and future healthcare.