Developing communities of interprofessional practice: using a communities of practice framework for interprofessional education.

Development of interprofessional education programs that meet new Interprofessional Education Collaborative competencies is a challenge for faculty and administrators. This article describes a curricular design that places students in learning communities over a 2-year period with a plan for 5 learning sessions. Communities of practice is the theoretical framework of the curricular design, creating interprofessional clinicians capable of effective collaborative practice.

Attitudes toward interprofessional education: comparing physician assistant and other health care professions students.

Purpose: Since the release of the 1988 World Health Organization report on the need for interprofessional education (IPE) programs, various forms of IPE curricula have been implemented within institutions of higher education. The purpose of this paper is to describe results of a study using the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) to compare physician assistant (PA) students with other health professions students.

Methods: The RIPLS survey was completed by 158 health professions graduate students, including 71 PA students, at a small northeastern university in the fall of 2010.