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Interprofessional education: a concept analysis

Authors Olenick M, Allen LR, Smego Jr RA

Published 25 November 2010 Volume 2010:1 Pages 75—84

DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/AMEP.S13207

Review by Single anonymous peer review

Peer reviewer comments 2



Maria Olenick1, Lois Ryan Allen2, Raymond A Smego Jr1
1The Commonwealth Medical College, Scranton, PA, USA; 2School of Nursing, Widener University, Chester, PA, USA

Abstract: Interprofessional education is broadly defined as a teaching and learning process that fosters collaborative work between two or more health care professions. Interprofessional education, as a proven, beneficial approach to collaborative learning that addresses the problems of fragmentation in health care delivery and separation among health care professionals, is frequently promulgated but not always successfully implemented. Furthermore, there are several different interpretations, overlapping terminologies, interchangeable terms, and a lack of uniformity of a definition for interprofessional education. This concept analysis determines the attributes and characteristics of interprofessional education, develops an operational definition that fits all health-related disciplines, defines common goals, and improves overall clarity, consensus, consistency, and understanding of interprofessional education among educators, professionals, and researchers. Through effective incorporation of interprofessional education into curricular and practice settings, optimal patient-centered outcomes can potentially result as effective and highly integrated teams facilitate and optimize collaborative patient care and safety.

Keywords: health professions education, collaborative learning, curriculum, patient care, health care services

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