The coming of age for interprofessional education and practice

Interprofessional education for collaborative practice is an important innovation globally and in US health professions education. The recent spotlight on interprofessional education in the United States was launched by a series of reports in the US Institute of Medicine's Quality Chasm series. They raised concerns over medical errors and health care quality as significant sources of morbidity and mortality in the United States and proposed health professions' education for patient-centered, team-based care as one means to address these concerns. Starting in 2007, binational, biennial conferences on interprofessional education have been held to synergize interprofessional education developments in the United States and Canada. In 2011, Collaborating Across Borders III, in Tucson, Arizona, drew 750 participants from 11 countries. The conference focused on interprofessional competency frameworks; strategies for preparing students for interprofessional practice; tailoring of learning environments for interprofessional education; and developing policy, infrastructure, culture, and faculty leadership for interprofessional education.