IPE/CP

Inter Professional Education and Collaborative Practice( IPE/CP)

 

The core of PETRA activities are based on Inter Professional Education and Collaborative Practice IPE/CP principles. Inter-professional collaboration is strongly supported by WHO as being critical in providing better quality of care to communities and patients by bringing multiple perspectives.

The PETRA IPE/CP program enables students and health professionals to develop the following competencies (a) values/ethics of inter-professional practice (b) roles and responsibilities for collaborative practice (c) inter-professional communication practice (d) inter-professional teamwork and team-based practice. In the current provision of health services in Zimbabwe, health professionals work side by side but do not interact in a way that would leverage the opportunity of inter-professional practice. Team work and a change in culture are key elements of IPE/CP.

The PETRA IPE/CP program includes four innovative components: 1) An IPE/CP curriculum and competencies for medical, nursing and pharmacy students in Zimbabwe; 2) Training for all faculty in the basic principles of IPE/CP; 3) An advanced training program to develop the local academic leadership in IPE needed for sustainability; and 4) Collaborative practice projects to demonstrate the impact of IPE/CP in clinical settings.

 

IPE/CP Activities

 

Implementation of IPE/CP in the PETRA Consortium will be accomplished through completion of the following activities:

  1. Team-based Learning (TBL) HIV/AIDS Course

A curriculum on HIV/AIDS delivered through a team-based learning (TBL) approach was developed in 2011 for final year medical students to fill a gap identified in the teaching of HIV/AIDS to medical students. This curriculum was developed collaboratively by UCD and UZCHS faculty. PETRA will introduce an IPE approach to the HIV/AIDS TBL course. This is expected to prepare students to collaboratively care for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLH).

  1. Inter-professional Education and Collaborative Practice (IPE/CP) during Urban and Rural Community-based Education (CBE) Rotations

PETRA is working with the UZCHS CBE program office and medical, nursing, pharmacy and rehabilitation departments to synchronize rotations for at least two disciplines at a time.  In this innovative IPE/CP approach synchronized rotations will be implemented in the year September 2019-August 2020 of the PETRA program when both faculty and district staff have undergone TOT in fundamentals of IPE/CP and supervision.

  1. Antiretroviral (ART) Clinic Collaborative Practice Demonstration Project

The goal of the PETRA ART Clinic demonstration project is to introduce IPE/CP principles in the training of students of all disciplines in an ART clinic setting. A clinical mentorship curriculum with a strong IPE component is being implemented at ART clinics at the teaching hospitals. The facilitators are  faculty with expertise in HIV/AIDS care and who have undergone TOT in IPE/CP. The curriculum includes training to work in teams, communication, respect for all disciplines and patient-centred care. Stroke Unit IPE/CP Demonstration Project.

  1. Stroke Unit IPE/CP Demonstration Project

A multidisciplinary team from the Stroke Unit were trained in IPE/CP through FDW and TOT for IPE/CP in May 2019. Implementation of IPE/CP commence at the Stroke Unit thereafter. Medical, nursing, pharmacy and rehabilitation students who rotate through the unit will be trained in stroke care using IPE/CP principles for the duration of the PETRA program. Undergraduate students from all disciplines  receive the same training in stroke care including assessment and functional grading of stroke patients, procedures such as the swallow test, imaging and chest x-rays, laboratory assessment, scheduling of rehabilitation needs, discharge plan and other management requirements. Similarly qualified professionals such as MMed residents, graduate nurses, pharmacists and other disciplines who work at the Stroke Unit will receive training in IPE/CP and will be expected to apply the principles in their practice.

  1. Faculty Development Workshops (FDW) to Incorporate Inter-professional Education (IPE/CP)

The Department of Health Professions Education at UZCHS organizes two FDW every year. The FDWs were initiated during the Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI) era (2010-2015) and have been continued regularly ever since. PETRA has not duplicated the organization of the workshops, but introduces sessions on the principles of IPE/CP at all future workshops. Representatives from other Consortium institutions are part of these workshops. The goal is to provide faculty from all Consortium institutions with a foundation of the principles of IPE/CP.

  1. Strengthen Academic Leadership in IPE/CP 

PETRA is designed to increase capacity to implement and institutionalize IPE/CP at four Zimbabwean institutions with the desire to influence policy towards its wider implementation in the country. To strengthen IPE/CP the program is designed to develop a cadre of faculty members who are invested through passion, enthusiasm and advanced training to pursue IPE/CP as IPE/CP champions. This is implemented through a one-year intensive curriculum in IPE to be delivered through three-one week long face-to-face sessions, online mentorship execution of a project and its evaluation. Faculty members from various disciplines  will be enrolled in the third year of PETRA (September 2020-Auig 2021) to this one-year long program to achieve approximately 30 IPE/CP leaders by the fifth year of the PETRA program. The program is open to all faculty from all PETRA institutions.