Interprofessional learning and teaching can take place at an academic institution, but also regularly occurs in workplace environments where students gain applicable and practical experience.
Recognizing the importance of interprofessional education as one of the innovative approaches that can help tackle the global health workforce challenge, the World Health Organization (WHO) convened a WHO Study Group on Interprofessional Education & Collaborative Practice in 2007[2] to articulate a greater understanding of this issue within a global context.
The WHO Study Group engaged various partners and undertook a program of work that culminated in the publication of WHO’s Framework for Action on Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice[3] in March 2010.
It provides strategies and ideas that can help health policymakers implement the elements of interprofessional education and collaborative practice that will be most beneficial in their own jurisdiction.
This led to a report describing the necessity to act on changes in (higher) education and in clinical institutions to implement and secure interprofessional collaborative practice.