OVER 170 students and 20 faculty members from Qatar University (QU) colleges of Health Sciences (CHS), Medicine (CMED) and Pharmacy (CPH) participated in the inter-professional education (IPE) activities organised by QU Health IPE Committee (IPEC).
The event engaged students and faculty from various professions, including pharmacy, medicine, public health, nutrition and biomedical sciences with the aim to introduce the concept of IPE to students and to enable them learn how to be part of a professional healthcare team and communicate in a collaborative and culturally sensitive manner.
The programme featured a lecture on the concepts of IPE and its importance within a healthcare team by CPH Assistant Dean for Student Affairs and QU Health IPEC Chair Dr Alla El-Awaisi. It also included an icebreaker game during which the students introduced themselves and competed against other teams in trying to identify the highest number of healthcare professionals, as well as a case-based discussion led by Dima Arafa, teaching assistant at CHS Department of Public Health.
The discussion focused on a 52-year-old Qatari man with an eight-year history of hypertension and lactose intolerance. The students identified which professionals would best meet the needs of this patient, what they will do and how these professions will work together. They also discussed the importance of collaboration between healthcare professionals to address patient health needs during the blockade.
Commenting on the IPE activities, QU Vice-President for Medical and Health Sciences and CMED Dean Dr Egon Toft said:"We are fortunate to be part of a well-established and comprehensive university with a broad range of health-related programmes such as the award-winning nation-wide Inter-professional Education (IPE) programme led by the QU Health."
CHS Dean and Biomedical Research Center Director Prof Asma al Thani said:"The purpose of healthcare education is to prepare students to become professionals who can competently deliver high-quality care in Qatar. Learning in the IPE context is vital element of preparation for working in multi-professional teams." (TNN)