Division of Health Sciences Centre for Interprofessional Education

IPE strategy

The Division of Health Sciences has a vision to "establish Otago as a national leader in interprofessional education across the health professions."

To achieve that vision, the IPE Strategic Plan (2016–2019) has been implemented to establish frameworks and infrastructure necessary to support our staff to grow IPE across the Division.

• Download the IPE Strategic Plan (2016–2019) (PDF)

From 2020, the Division moved into a second cycle of strategic goals, set out in:

• A Curriculum and Quality Framework for Interprofessional Education at Otago: Strategic Plan 2020-2024 (Statement of Policy Recommendations) (PDF)

Specifically, these are policy recommendations for Otago, to support a high-quality, integrated and longitudinal IPE curriculum across the pre-registration health professional programmes – including the following components:

• Overarching aims for IPE
• Common IPE language
• Variable IPE activity components in a sequential curriculum
• Defined set of curriculum learning outcomes
• Expectations for student attainment, collectively and individually
• Guidelines for IPE student assessment and IPE activity evaluation
• Capacity to adapt and respond to the context, needs, opportunities and partnerships of IPE
• Recognition for staff contribution to IPE teaching
• Quality systems to accredit IPE activities, record student IPE credits, and evaluate the IPE integrated curriculum.

IPE Centre

The Division of Health Sciences Centre for Interprofessional Education (" IPE Centre") has been established and charged with implementing the strategy. The IPE Centre is a virtual entity consisting of the following roles:

• IPE Director
• IPE Deputy Director
• IPE Campus Leads:
  • IPE Leads Dunedin
  • IPE Lead UOC
  • IPE Lead UOW
• IPE Centre Manager
• IPE Programme Leaders, Deputy Programme Leaders, and Professional Practice Fellows, for Complex Rural Immersion Sites
• IPE Complex Rural Immersion Programmes Manager and Lead Administrator
• Administrators Client Services and Kaiwhakahaere Tari
• IPE Research Fellow

With oversight by the Divisional Executive, the Centre sets a direction and work programme to support and foster the development of high-quality IPE on all campuses and across health professional programmes, faculties, and schools. The current focus is on pre-registration programmes, with an intention to foster IPE in postgraduate programmes over time.

Contact details for the IPE Centre

Progress and timeline towards strategic objectives

2023 focus

• Maintain all learning activities that are going well and can be delivered under current health system pressures.
• Continue to monitor gaps or over-supply in learning activities that are designed to deliver particular competencies and begin the work of addressing these.
• Liaise with all Otago health professional programmes to ensure IPE is included in curriculum review, e.g. Future of Advanced Learning in Medicine.
• Prioritise development of new IPE learning activities in clinical workplaces; experience has shown this requires significant practical support from IPE Leaders and IPE administrators as well as specific modest funding of Te Whatu Ora staff for IPE teaching roles.
• Welcome offers by other Departments, Schools and partners to independently offer or partner in leading IPE activities, e.g. as proved successful in 2022 for IPE Professional Ethics development (Bioethics) and IPE Cancer Care and Life-limiting Illness in Midcentral (partnering with staff from Massey University).
• Sustain IPE research at current levels.

IPE governance and linkages

• The IPE Director is a member of the Health Sciences Divisional Executive, facilitating Divisional strategic oversight of the IPE Centre and the Health Sciences Division's IPE activities. (Prior to 2021, a Divisional IPE Governance Group (DIPEGG) served this function.)
• The IPE Leaders Group - comprising the IPE Director, IPE Divisional Lead, IPE Campus Leads, IPE Centre Manager, Complex Rural Immersion Programme Leaders and Manager - provides leadership and strategic support to IPE Campus Groups as required.
• IPE Campus Groups and/or task teams serve as IPE leadership teams on each campus (Dunedin, UOC, UOW).
• Executive Operations Groups  oversee complex rural immersion programmes.

IPE in the Division occurs within a matrix of linkages and relationships, including linkages between:

• The IPE Centre and its divisional and campus-level governance structures
• The IPE Centre and IPE activities and teams based at various campus and regional sites, as well as complex rural immersion activities, i.e. the Tairāwhiti Interprofessional Education Programme and Te Tai Poutini IPE Programmes
• IPE activities involving the University of Otago and other community and institutional partners.