INTERPROFESSIONAL EDUCATION THROUGH UNIVERSITY-HOSPITAL COLLABORATION

Interprofessional education (IPE) is becoming increasingly significant in health care curricula as a precursor to patient safety and quality of care mandates. IPE provides health care students with the opportunity to learn with, from, and about each other to both promote effective collaboration and improve health outcomes (Meakim et al., 2013). Historically, health care students have typically learned in “professional silos”, a model known to contribute to poor communication skills, teamwork failures, and compromised patient safety (Palaganas, 2014). Within the Canadian context, few opportunities exist for students to engage in interprofessional practice, resulting in gaps in student preparation for the real-world practice environment. This presentation will provide an overview of the early results of an educational initiative that builds upon strong collaborative ties between a university and a community teaching hospital. By teaching about interprofessional practice, in a setting which promotes and supports interprofessional practice, students were invited into both real-world and simulated learning that extended theoretical knowledge into the practice setting. Student perceptions of learning through large-group simulations will be discussed. Lessons learned from the student experience will be shared. Finally, faculty perceptions of barriers and facilitators to large group interprofessional, simulation-based education for nursing and health sciences students will be explored.