The QU Health Interprofessional Education Committee (IPEC) in Qatar University (QU), which consist of representatives of all the different healthcare colleges in Qatar, have organized its first interprofessional activity (IPE) for this academic year (2021/2022) on Introducing IPE; Roles and Responsibilities and launching IPE passport program virtually by Microsoft teams.
162 students and 14 facilitators from QU participated in this event. Professions involved in this activity were Biomedical Science, Human Nutrition, Medicine, Pharmacy and Physical therapy.
The objectives of this activity is to understand the importance of collaborative teamwork, communication and decision-making and recognizing the roles of the various IPE team members and accept that every role is equally important. Also, identify how each health profession’s scope of practice complements and enhances other professions and collectively enable improved health outcomes with emphases on Healthcare students/professionals communicate in a collaborative, responsible and culturally sensitive manner.
Additionally, Interprofessional Education Passport Program was launched this semester (Fall 2021) to offer structured integration and assessment of IPE in the different health programs. Students must complete a minimum of four IPE activities and submit a reflective assignment as per their assigned course/ module. Ultimately, a certificate of IPE passport program completion will be obtained after the student fulfills the program’s requirement signed by the Vice President for Medical and Health Sciences.
Prof. Asma Al-Thani, Vice President of medical and health science said “In QU-HEALTH,we always aim to innovate health care programs that support Interprofessional Education, with the goal to produce a health care Interprofessional centered practice between health care students in Qatar. Therefore, we have created the Interprofessional Education Passport to be the primary health reference for all health care students in Qatar, based on the foundations of health professions critical thinking focused on patient care.”
Dr. Alla El Awaisi (Lead Facilitator, Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, College of Pharmacy and QU Health Chair of Interprofessional Education Committee) said “We are proud that IPE activities have been running at Qatar University since 2014 and these events engage students from various health professions from early on in the healthcare student-learning journey to foster an interprofessional culture and communicate in a collaborative and culturally sensitive manner. This is vital to graduate collaborative practice-ready graduates who will be the future healthcare professionals in the State of Qatar, working to promote and foster a collaborative practice with their practices”. She added: “We are pleased to offer IPE passport program in the different health programs. We hope this program will motivate students to attend, participate and engage in the IPE activities as part of their courses in a progressive level tailored to their professional years and get a certificate of completion at the end of their academic journey”.
Source: QATAR UNIVERSITY
