Faculty Development in Interprofessional Education: Designing and Implementing a Successful Program

Abstract

Patient care is improved when health-care providers work collaboratively as teams. However, many institutions have not fully embraced these concepts and are not providing sufficient opportunities for their current health-care professional trainees. For institutions to properly educate health-care providers to be practice ready in interprofessional collaboration (IPC) teams upon graduation, faculty training programs are critical. Faculty development efforts in interprofessional education (IPE) must be strategic in their design and implementation, include a dedicated and experienced leadership team, and have adequate financial support. In this paper, the authors describe a faculty development program designed to promote IPE among multiple health-care professions. A three-session interdisciplinary faculty development series was developed, incorporating peer coaching, mentorship, self-directed learning, assignments, and lecture-based presentations as principle learning activities. The major learning objectives of this series were to (1) understand the roles and responsibilities of interdisciplinary team members, (2) identify challenges of an interprofessional approach to patient-centered care, and (3) apply collaborative approaches to the health-care needs of the patient. Strategies to promote active learning opportunities were planned for all three sessions, designed to encourage participants to learn with, about, and from each other to improve health outcomes. Upon completion of the series, participants expressed positive changes in perception of IPE and shared learning but remained divided in opinion of the practicality of working in health-care teams. The authors conclude that designing and implementing an interprofessional faculty development program takes time and is an ever-evolving process, requiring shared vision, commitment, flexibility, and sustained administrative support.