Interprofessional education for interprofessional practice: does it make a difference?

Much of the rhetoric on interprofessional learning is not underpinned by high-level evidence

Interprofessional education (IPE) has been identified as a critical component in the development of a collaborative, practice-ready health care workforce in Australia.1 According to the Centre for the Advancement of Interprofessional Education in the United Kingdom, IPE “occurs when two or more professions learn with, from and about each other to improve collaboration and the quality of care”.2 Its purpose is to improve patient outcomes by providing a learning environment that enables undergraduates (and postgraduates, where appropriate) to gain a better understanding of teamwork, and of how each discipline contributes to team-based care without losing its professional identity.