University of Tasmania, Australia

Interprofessional learning in health care – assessment and impact 

Interprofessional education (IPE) and interprofessional learning (IPL) have become popularised over the last decade as realistic methods for promoting collaboration between health care disciplines and across sectors. The underlying goal of IPE/IPL in health care is to improve health outcomes for the individual patient or client, their family, the community and the population as a whole.

Whilst a great deal of encouragement and support has been provide to the development of more collaborative models of care in rural areas and calls made for health care professionals to work together more closely, the assessment and evaluation of IPL/E has been problematic. Much work has been conducted and reported  on the impact learning about and from each other (working together) has had on participant health care professionals, though there exists a dearth of studies on the impact effective collaboration may have on patient (or equivalent) outcomes. Does IPL/IPE work? Does it contribute to health outcomes? How can this be realistically assessed or measured?

In this study, the candidate will interrogate these (or similar) questions. The focus of this empirical investigation could be on: organisational processes, health (patient) outcomes, critical incidents (adverse outcomes), student learning or clinical education and capacity building.

..