Launching a new interprofessional education programme in a rural setting: a qualitative study of the first two years

Delivery of interprofessional education (IPE) in rural settings can support pre-registration health sciences students to achieve interprofessional collaborative practice (teamwork) competencies. It can also grow the rural workforce with previous students recommending the programme to their peers and some choosing to work in a rural workplace as graduates. Launching and implementing a rural IPE programme in a new location is challenging, even when comparable IPE models exist in other settings.

We aimed to evaluate the implementation of a new rural IPE programme in Greymouth, New Zealand.

Qualitative evaluation data were collected through several rounds of interviews during the first 2 years of the programme. The interviews included students, stakeholders (Education Operations Group - the tertiary education providers who sent students, clinical placement providers, community stakeholders), and local programme staff. Focus group and interview data were explored using thematic analysis.

Three themes were identified, each with subthemes: (1) allow sufficient lead-in time, (2) ensure there is time to bed down, and (3) undertake location-specific quality improvement. These themes pointed to aspects that were important when implementing a new IPE programme, particularly to enable development of a local flavour.

Rural IPE programmes are complex, expensive to establish, and difficult to sustain, but such programmes may be key to increasing the rural workforce. It is critical to have local staff who can work effectively with all the stakeholder groups, all of whom are important to continuing the programme.