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

Leon Piterman, Jennifer M Newton and Benedict J Canny
Med J Aust 2010; 193 (2): . || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2010.tb03810.x
Published online: 19 July 2010

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.


  • 1 School of Primary Health Care, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC.
  • 2 Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC.


Correspondence: leon.piterman@monash.edu

  • 1. Cormack M. Progressing the National Health Workforce Reform Agenda. Keynote address. All Together Better Health 5 International Interprofessional Conference; 2010 April 6–9; Sydney, Australia.
  • 2. Centre for the Advancement of Interprofessional Education (UK). Defining IPE. http://www.caipe.org.uk/about-us/defining-ipe/ (accessed Apr 2010).
  • 3. World Health Organization. Framework for action on interprofessional education and collaborative practice. Geneva: WHO, 2010: 18. (WHO/HRH/HPN/10.3.) http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/2010/WHO_HRH_HPN_10.3_eng.pdf (accessed Apr 2010).
  • 4. Zwarenstein M, Goldman J, Reeves S. Interprofessional collaboration: effects of practice-based interventions on professional practice and health care outcomes. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2009; (3): CD000072.
  • 5. Stone N. Coming in from the interprofessional cold in Australia. Aust Health Rev 2007; 31: 332-340.
  • 6. Ponzer S, Hylin U, Kusoffsky A, et al. Interprofessional training in the context of clinical practice: goals and students’ perceptions on clinical education wards. Med Educ 2004; 38: 727-736.
  • 7. Wilhelmsson M, Pelling S, Ludvigsson J, et al. Twenty years experiences of interprofessional education in Linköping — ground-breaking and sustainable. J Interprof Care 2009; 23: 121-133.
  • 8. Boyce RA, Moran MC, Nissen LM, et al. Interprofessional education in health sciences: the University of Queensland Health Care Team Challenge. Med J Aust 2009; 190: 433-436. <MJA full text>
  • 9. Davidson M, Smith RA, Dodd KJ, et al. Interprofessional pre-qualification clinical education: a systematic review. Aust Health Rev 2008; 32: 111-120.

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