Interprofessional Healthcare Education and Practice (IPE and IPP)
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines Interprofessional Education (IPE) as,
… the process by which a group of students (or workers) from the health-related occupations with different educational backgrounds learn together during certain periods of their education, with interaction as an important goal, to collaborate in providing promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative and other health-related services. (from “Learning together to work together for health”, WHO, 1988, p6).
In its 2010 report, “Framework for Action on Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice’, the WHO strongly encourage efforts to develop and integrate interprofessional education into their healthcare programs. This organization stresses a need for contextual development that can help to inform the regional and global community.
An Interprofessional Health Care Education (IPE) Program developed in Qatar will help to further improve collaborative healthcare delivery in this State. In this respect Qatar has the potential to become recognized as a leader in the improvement of health care outcomes through the successful integration of pre-licensure IPE with post-licensure IPE as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).
IPE and IPP
There are two primary areas where the implementation of IPE can be beneficial: (1) pre-licensure [Interprofessional Education – IPE] and (2) post-licensure [Interprofessional Practice – IPP]. The first is generally conducted while students are training in their profession at a post-secondary institution. The second is provided as ongoing professional development for working professionals and is carried on at healthcare institutions.
Qatar Interprofessional Healthcare Council (QIHC)
The Qatar Interprofessional Healthcare Council (QIHC) was formed in 2009 and consisted of representation from pre- and post-licensure health care institutions in Qatar including Hamad Medical Corporation, Sidra Medical and Research Hospital, University of Calgary in Qatar (Nursing), Weill-Cornell (Medical), Qatar University (Pharmacy), and College of the North Atlantic (Allied Healthcare). Our goal was to promote, inform, and provide leadership in IPE in Qatar.[QIHC Vision-Mission, AHSI Roadshow].
IPE is strong and continues to grow in healthcare practice in Qatar [Interprofessional Education].
QNRF-Funded IPE Research
In May 2011 the QIHC were awarded $595,000US in funding from Qatar National Research Funding (QNRF) to conduct a three-year project looking at ways to integrate IPE into healthcare education in Qatar. The project followed three distinct stages: (1) baseline activities and instructional development, (2) implementation, (3) evaluation. Our initial work included adapting and developing a set of shared core IPE competencies and then developing and delivering workshops to students from all partner disciplines.
The project was successful and resulted in many IPE-related educational activities, resources, and a number of publications and presentations.
Deliverables
In the course of our project we developed and shared a number of deliverables:
1. Shared-Core-IPE Competencies
2. IPE Workshop Training Manual
Investigators
| Dr. Brad Johnson | Lead Principle Investigator |  |
| Dr. Mohamud Verjee | mov2002@qatar-med.cornell.edu |  |
| Dr. Peter Jewesson | peter.jewesson@gmail.com |  |
| Dr. Carolyn Byrne | cbyrne@mcmaster.ca | |
| Dr. Mohamed El-Tawil | mtawil99@hotmail.com |  |
| Suzanne Robertson-Malt |  |
Research Team
| Dr. Myriam Abi Hayla | Project Manager |
| Noof Al-Kuwari | Research Assistant |
| Mona Al Aden | Research Assistant |
| Mahsa Ferdousian | Research Assistant |
Publications
A number of journal publications were authored by the project team. The following represent peer-reviewed journal publications.
Hickey JE, Johnson B. (2015). Laying ‘the groundwork’ for a post-licensure interprofessional education
initiative in Qatar, Avicenna 2015:4 http://dx.doi.org/10.5339/avi.2015.4 (http://www.qscience.com/doi/pdf/10.5339/avi.2015.4) [PDF]
Johnson B, Pyburn R, Bolan C, Byrne C, Jewesson P, Robertson-Malt S,
El-Tawil M, Verjee M. (2011). Qatar Interprofessional Health Council: IPE for Qatar, Avicenna 2011:2
doi: 10.5339/avi.2011.2 (http://www.qscience.com/doi/pdf/10.5339/avi.2011.2) [PDF]
Johnson B, Abi Hayla M, Jewesson PJ, Byrne C, El-Tawil M, Verjee MA.(2015). Core Interprofessional Education (IPE) health competencies: The process of adaptation and implementation for a local environment, Journal of Local and Global Health Science 2015:3 http://dx.doi.org/10.5339/jlghs.2015.3 (http://www.qscience.com/doi/pdf/10.5339/jlghs.2015.3) [PDF]
Verjee, M., Johnson, B., Jewesson, P. (2020). Measuring student changes of role perceptions in health professions before and after multiple interprofessional education workshops. [Submitted to Journal of Interprofessional Care, June 2020]. [PDF]
Posters and Presentations
Throughout the course of this project a number of poster presentations were developed and displayed at local conferences as a way of keeping the community aware of the project and its progress.
| Title | Conference | Download |
| Implementing Inter-Professional Undergraduate Health Care Education in Qatar | Hamad Medical Corporation, Nursing Days, 2011 | Poster |
| The Development of a Set of Shared Core IPE Competencies and Evaluation for Qatar: the process and the product | Qatar Foundation Research Days, 2012 | Poster |
| Curriculum review of four medical institutions in Qatar to determine the extent and nature of Interprofessional education in their programs | 1st Middle East Conference on Interprofessional Education (IPE): New Frontiers in Healthcare Education, 2015 | Poster |
| The development of a rubric to evaluate IPE competencies in game and scenario activities | 1st Middle East Conference on Interprofessional Education (IPE): New Frontiers in Healthcare Education, 2015 | Poster |
| The development of an IPE workshop for Students from up to Four Professions | 1st Middle East Conference on Interprofessional Education (IPE): New Frontiers in Healthcare Education, 2015 | Poster |
| The impact of an IPE workshop on student perceptions of other Healthcare professions | 1st Middle East Conference on Interprofessional Education (IPE): New Frontiers in Healthcare Education, 2015 | Presentation |
Workshop Training Manual
The development and delivery of this project resulted in a substantial amount of materials development. We would like to share those with you.
| Resource | Description | Download |
| IPE Workshop Manual Complete | Complete manual with all sections. | |
| IPE Workshop Manual | Workshop manual but without the sections. | |
| Section 1: Shared Core Competencies | Describes the developmetn of the IPE shared core competency framework and associated rubric. | |
| Section 2: Content | This is the content we developed to use in presentations at the workshops | |
| Section 3: Games | We used games to help promote teamwork and shared decision making. These are the game descriptions and materials. | |
| Section 4: Medical Scenarios | Four healthcare scenarios were developed to provide practice for the IPE teams in two or more of the shared core competency areas. These are the full descriptions and materials associated with the scenarios. | |
| Section 5: Debriefers | Participants were systematically debriefed after each activity and this was especially true after each healthcare scenario. | |
| Section 6: Standardized Patients | The healthcare scenarios required a number of actors, each scenario required actor training. | |
| Section 7: Surveys and Questionnaires | The research tools used pre and post, and during the workshop. | |
| Section 8: Logistics and Resources | The actual workshop logistics and materials used to help carry out the workshop. |
Video Scenarios
A number of video scenarios were developed for use during the workshops depicting a healthcare team meeting to review cases.
| Video Resource | Description | Download |
| Bad | The healthcare team does not work well together and clearly do not respect each other. | mp4 | wmv |
| Better | The healthcare team models good teamwork and shared decision making. | mp4 | wmv |
| Best | In this final video, the healthcare team includes the patient and her mother. In addition this video is much more contextually accurate as the healthcare team and patient are from varied nationalities and cultures. | mp4 | wmv |
Final Report
As the project wrapped up, a final report was written and issued to QNRF.
 |
This research was made possible by a grant from the Qatar National Research Fund under its National Priorities Research Project (NPRP), award number NPRP 4-693-3-197 |
For more information about the project please contact:
| Dr Brad Johnson, Lead PI Email: bradfjohnson@gmail.com |
Myriam Abi Hayla, Research Project Coordinator Email: myriamabihayla@hotmail.com |
| Dr. Brad Johnson (c) 2020 – http://brad.bbwebmedia.com |