Interprofessional communication: How do we do it?

Interprofessional education in preparation for the skills to execute teams and teamwork through interprofessional collaboration has been publicized and mandated by several professional associations through accreditation standards. The prerequisite is emphasized by the National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine) as a mantra for successful healthcare outcomes. In response, the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (known as IPEC) published core competencies in 2011 with an update in 2016. While these statements are not each independently expressed in measurable terms, they stand as a compendium to guide interprofessional collaboration. To date, the literature does not reflect a comprehensive approach to explicating or interpreting these to be embraced more readily. Further, the literature to enlighten student education outstrips the literature to illuminate faculty education, though we acknowledge the work of the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education to inspire faculty education through a variety of platforms. Though the IPEC publications represent seminal work in the US, built on earlier work from the UK and others, its translation for faculty education applying a straight-forward, orderly, and methodical approach has not been done. Our attempt was to take one of the four (“4”) IPEC core competencies, Core Competency 3: Interprofessional Communication, and describe its underpinnings in a systematic way as another tool for faculty education. It may open the door to further expound on each competency statement to employ IPEC competencies within a healthcare community that includes students, faculty and post graduate professionals.