Inter Professional Education

Interprofessional Education (IPE) occurs when members of two or more professions learn with, from and about one another to improve collaboration and the quality of care (CAIPE 2011).

The School of Health and Life Sciences at GCU is one of the largest providers of pre-registration IPE in the UK and is committed to working in partnership with staff, students, employers and the community to develop an accessible, dynamic and flexible environment for learning and teaching. The School has led in the development and introduction of interprofessional modules directed at innovative learning, collaborative research and best practice that address the requirements of all the professions involved. The current IPE framework includes 15 professions spanning both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.

Our vision

The School of Health and Life Sciences at Glasgow Caledonian University believes that all of its Health and Social Care students should be provided with opportunities to experience and understand the value of interprofessional team working as they study for their professional qualifications.  These views are supported by the respective Statutory and Professional Bodies.

History

IPE has been an integral feature of the Health and Social Care Education provision at Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) since 2004.  At that time the then School of Health and Social Care introduced a core module termed Interprofessional Studies For Health And Social Care to all of its Level 1 Health and Social Care and BA Hons Nursing students along with additional Level 1 BSc Hons Prosthetics and Orthotics and BSc Hons Speech and Language Pathology students attending from the University of Strathclyde.

From that tentative beginning, the currently named School of Health and Life Sciences (SHLS) has gone on to become one of the largest providers of credit bearing Interprofessional Education in the UK.

The future

GCU is committed to inter-professional education and teaches a range of health and social care professions. IPE increasingly is becoming embedded within health and social care curricula around the world and GCU aims to continue to lead the way in interprofessional education in the UK.