Interprofessional faculty development program: ESHPE model

Abstract Interprofessional Education (IPE) refers to collaborative learning experience of staff belonging to diverse professions and academic backgrounds. To cope up with the challenging, innovative, rapidly growing and integrated health professions education, IPE appears to be a necessity rather than a luxury. IPE may also have a strategic advantage towards achieving the ultimate goal of collaborative patient care and community services. Keeping the amplified demand of IPE in consideration, a faculty development program, Essential Skills in Health Professions Education (ESHPE), was designed by Medical Education Department for the faculty of Health Sciences in Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Saudi Arabia, and is still in continuation. The primary objective of the program was to break the shackles of interdisciplinary barriers and encourage rich interaction and exchange between different health professions to enhance mutual understanding and awareness. The ESHPE program aspired towards incorporating the indispensable skills that had to be demonstrated by all participating faculty members. In this reported experience, faculties from 13 health institutions of the University participated in the training program, belonging to a variety of backgrounds, cultures and expertise and who showed enhanced teaching competence after successful completion of the program.