From Opportunity to Necessity: Development of an Asynchronous Online Interprofessional Learning Experience

• Main Authors: McHenry, Kristen, Williams, S. Alicia, Weierbach, Florence M, Beatty, Kate E, Cross, Brian
• Format: Others
• Published: Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University 2021
• Subjects: interprofessional education; asynchronous online learning; community health; simulated patient/professional; Curriculum and Instruction; Educational Technology; Interprofessional Education; Nursing; Online and Distance Education; Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences; Public Health; Rehabilitation and Therapy
• Online Access: https://dc.etsu.edu/ijhse/vol8/iss1/4; https://dc.etsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1127&context=ijhse

Incorporating interprofessional collaboration competencies into both undergraduate pre-licensure and graduate health science students poses challenges for academic health science centers. Certain student groups may have less opportunity to participate in interprofessional learning experiences due to demands of individual programs of study and conflicts in scheduling time with other disciplines. A group of interprofessional higher education faculty members created an innovative online asynchronous interprofessional experience with the primary goals of meeting accreditation standards for specific programs and providing interprofessional education (IPE) to students who were unable to participate in traditional face-to-face IPE experiences already established at the institution. This guide will highlight the process of design and development of the learning opportunity, from conception to implementation. The pilot of the asynchronous online IPE experience served as a model for the transition of the original in-person model to virtual IPE during the COVID-19 pandemic.