Our Journey Toward Interprofessional Lifelong Learning: Leading By and For - Learning With, From, and About

It takes an interprofessional team to deliver high quality healthcare that achieves the Quintuple Aim of improving the experience of care for people and providers and the health of populations, while reducing price/improving value, and ultimately achieving health equity. Traditional approaches to interprofessional practice and education (IPE) focus on preparing health professions students for collaborative practice. These students then graduate to find themselves in practice settings where the culture does not support IPE. The continuing education team is the missing link to overcoming this hidden curriculum and preparing the current and future workforce for interprofessional collaborative practice. It takes planning and leading by and for the continuing education team and learning with, from, and about each other to transition from siloed uniprofessional to interprofessional continuing education.  

This didactic presentation will share one team’s journey toward an emerging model of interprofessional lifelong learning. Presenters will share the story of the model’s inception and co-creation by an organization-wide diverse interprofessional team. Participants will learn about the road to IPE, the changing national landscape, evidence for IPE, and the crucial role of continuing education in interprofessional lifelong learning. The team’s planning process and sample program case studies will be shared so participants can tailor this model to their own practice settings.   

Innovation:

This model approaches Joint Accreditation as one tool to achieve the destination of interprofessional lifelong learning. It leverages the pivotal role of continuing education professionals in preparing the current and future workforce for interprofessional, collaborative team-based practice through continuing professional development. Finally, it demonstrates a process by which the continuing education professional serves as a planner and leader while learning with, from, and about their practice partners.