Interprofessional Education (IPE) is defined as a learning experience that allows representatives of two or more professions to "learn with, from and about each other” (1). It can be successfully implemented at different levels of education, including undergraduate, postgraduate and CPD programmes and initiatives.
The idea and assumptions of interprofessional education
The idea behind IPE is to enable students to acquire the skills and experience necessary to cooperate with other professionals effectively. Through building an understanding of the principles of collaboration and stimulating positive attitudes and (inter)professional identity, IPE enables future healthcare professionals to optimise effective teamwork and lead toward an improvement in the quality of healthcare provision (2).
Communication and willingness to cooperate
The importance of interaction between learners representing different backgrounds was highlighted by the WHO as early as 1988 (3). Some authors say it is key to distinguishing interprofessional teaching from other educational models (4). Being ‘available’ for other team members, understood as a physical presence at a specific place and time and sharing knowledge, is insufficient to establish effective cooperation (5). Lack of interaction makes changes in the individuals’ attitudes and overcoming existing stereotypes impossible (6).
Mutual trust and respect
The complexity of relationships within the medical team requires not only a sense of belonging to the team but also mutual respect (7). Studies by Baggs and Schmitt (5) and Silén-Lipponen et al. (8) have shown that team members with more significant experience and broader competencies are more willingly respected. On the other hand, difficulties in building trust and respect become a substantial barrier to the IPC (interprofessional care) implementation (9). Since this process requires time, effort, patience and previous positive experiences, all initiatives for IPE should, from the very beginning, create attitudes promoting respect for each team member's individuality, knowledge and experience (10,11).
Clarification of roles performed in the team
Differences in professional knowledge and previously acquired experience usually result in the differentiation of presented attitudes and values (12). Opie (13) emphasises that these differences turned out to be particularly valuable, which is why they should be made visible and appreciated. Acceptance and exposure of those differences allow for both better use of their potential and more precise and accurate formulation of hypotheses and conclusions related to the patient's clinical picture. Each specialist must, therefore, (a) be aware of the scope of knowledge they possess, (b) develop confidence in their own abilities, (c) recognise the boundaries of the discipline they represent, and (d) fulfil obligations resulting from the standards, values, and ethics of their own profession (12). According to Sargeant et al. (14), increasing awareness and respect for the roles played by different team members can be achieved by providing students with formal and informal opportunities to acquire knowledge about representatives of other professions and to interact with each other. In addition to promoting respect for the differences identified, the positive interdependence between representatives of individual professions should also be emphasised (12).
Fragments of the text and the figure come from the doctoral thesis of Cerbin-Koczorowska M. The development of an educational tool designed to promote pharmacist-physician cooperation and foster pharmaceutical care implementation in Poland, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, 2017.
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