Programmatic evaluation of interprofessional education: a quality improvement tool

ABSTRACT

Robust demonstration of high-quality, fit-for-purpose interprofessional education (IPE) is essential for today’s health professional students, staff, curricula, and regulatory bodies. As IPE moves from discrete “events” to fully embedded spirals of learning across degree programme curricula, effective mechanisms for monitoring continuous quality improvement are paramount. An accreditation tool was therefore developed for all learning activities contributing to the IPE curriculum of a university in Aotearoa New Zealand. We worked over 15 months, introducing a user-friendly tool to collect data, managing accreditation processes, and integrating with wider systems. We identified key levers to monitor, adjust, and continuously improve quality in IPE teaching and learning at individual-activity and programmatic levels.

KEYWORDS:

• Accreditation
• competencies
• interprofessional learning activities
• learning outcomes

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge funding and support from the Division of Health Sciences Centre for Interprofessional Education, University of Otago; and contributions by IPE Centre colleagues and partners, Vanderbilt University, and the REDCap Consortium.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Division of Health Sciences Centre for Interprofessional Education, University of Otago.

Notes on contributors

Ashley Symes

Ashley Symes is the Manager of the Centre for Interprofessional Education, Division of Health Sciences, University of Otago. She coordinates policy and strategy development, quality assurance, systems, and logistics for the Centre.

Susan R. Pullon

Susan Pullon is Emeritus Professor at the Centre for Interprofessional Education, and Department of Primary Health Care, Division of Health Sciences, University of Otago. Sue has wide teaching and research experience in interprofessional education and collaborative practice, in primary care, and youth health. She was a general practitioner for over 30 years and is a Distinguished Fellow of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners.

Eileen McKinlay

Eileen McKinlay is Associate Professor and Director of the Centre for Interprofessional Education, Division of Health Sciences, University of Otago. She leads the delivery of IPE learning activities to health sciences students across their training programmes and campus sites. Eileen is a nurse by background, and an experienced researcher in interprofessional education, and primary health care.