An interprofessional continuing education (IPCE) activity is more than inviting multiple professions to the same lecture. Under Joint Accreditation, an IPCE activity should be planned by and for the healthcare team and intentionally designed to improve collaborative practice, team performance, or patient outcomes. The professional gap identified relates to team performance, an interprofessional planning group will then ensure that the perspectives of each healthcare professional involved in the process is considered in planning the structure of the activity, they create a collaborative learning activity that will generate some measurable outcomes ensures to ensure that these professions involved will learn about each others roles and responsibilities, team structure, communication, and or ethics/values.
1. Identify a team-based practice gap.
Start by identifying a gap in knowledge, skills/strategy, or performance affecting the healthcare team. The gap should be relevant to the professions involved and connected to a desired change in team performance or patient outcomes.
2. Build an interprofessional planning team.
Include healthcare professionals from at least two professions who reflect the intended audience. Planning should be integrated, meaning the professions contribute to identifying the gap, developing objectives, selecting educational strategies, and determining outcomes.
3. Incorporate interprofessional competencies.
Design the activity around one or more core areas of collaborative practice: values and ethics, roles and responsibilities, interprofessional communication, or teams and teamwork.
4. Make learning interactive.
Learners should have meaningful opportunities to learn with, from, and about each other. Rather than relying solely on lectures, consider case discussions, team-based problem solving, simulation, role-play, audience response, or activities requiring learners to apply knowledge and receive feedback.
5. Define measurable outcomes and evaluate change.
Evaluation should assess whether the activity produced the intended change—for example, changes in learners’ skills or performance as members of the healthcare team, impact on team functioning, or patient outcomes.
Example: A hospital identifies poor medication handoffs between physicians, nurses, and pharmacists. An interprofessional planning group develops a simulation in which all three professions practice a standardized handoff. Learners discuss each profession’s information needs, complete the simulation, receive feedback, and develop an action plan. Follow-up evaluation measures changes in handoff performance.