A Culture Shift
This strategic goal aims to support a culture of interprofessional and interdisciplinary partnerships underpinned by a collaborative educational environment.
The new Office of Interprofessional Education has been given the mandate to develop a core curriculum for students in medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech language pathology and also dentistry (while with the medical students). The curriculum embraces the National Interprofessional Competency Framework put forward by the Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative (2010).
Academic Health Network: In recent years, the leadership of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences has worked to enhance the partnerships with the two McGill-affiliated CIUSSSs and the MUHC as related to educational needs and initiatives. The Directors of Education from these affiliate-institutions have been integrated into several of our university committees. Moving forward, it will be critical to work in partnership to develop interprofessional education initiatives in situ, in ways that meet our institutional partners’ needs.
Interdisciplinary curriculum: There is a growing interest in supporting interdisciplinary educational experiences for students in the basic and clinical sciences. Educational champions are exploring new pedagogical innovations by bringing students from different disciplines together to learn from each other.
National Competency Framework [Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative, 2010]
From ideas to actions:
Key themes emerged from a brainstorming session held on February 8, 2017 are now being acted upon:
- Important to focus on the patient as the unifying element/outcome.
- Interdisciplinary research is easier (more familiar) than interdisciplinary teaching.
- Students need to develop skills in IPE/IDE through collaborative problem-solving, communication, teamwork; similarly faculty will require Faculty Development to support IPE/ID teaching.
- This will require a culture change; there may be resistance.
- Leverage successes in key departments to influence other departments.
- Learning spaces influence the opportunities and extent of authentic cross-talk.
Read the full Education Strategic Plan (PDF).
Comments and participation is welcome throughout the Education Strategic Planning exercise and we can be reached via: admin-vdeducation.med [at] mcgill.ca