Experience of development and management of interprofessional education courses: a case study of an IPE center CHA IPE Bridge

PURPOSE: Since the World Health Organization began recommending interprofessional education (IPE) in 2007, it has been applied to all fields of health care related education worldwide. There is an emerging need for IPE in Korea in the context of developing strategies for continuous quality control and improvement of medical services in hospitals and especially avoidance of patient safety. However, despite its importance and necessity, IPE in Korea appears to remain in its starting stage. The aim of this study is to introduce “CHA IPE Bridge”, a center for IPE that was established CHA University in Korea in 2018. METHODS: According to the subject and purpose of this study, I have to conduct a “case study” with “literature search” as a basic research method. After conducting a literature (books and articles) & websites search on the history and trends of IPE in the world and the current status of IPE in Korea, I intend to examine the status and meaning of the CHA IPE Bridge based on those backgrounds. RESULTS: According to Harden’s 11 steps of IPE, IPE courses and programs developed CHA IPE Bridge have reached the level of “multidisciplinary'” belonging to the ninth step. In fact, few cases in Korea have achieved that level of IPE. Furthermore, CHA IPE Bridge develops IPE courses that go beyond the range of doctors and nurses to other occupations related to the field of health care. In view of such differences, the introduction of CHA IPE Bridge is expected to provide a positive stimulus to other universities in Korea. CONCLUSION: The greatest achievement of this study is that the CHA IPE Bridge’s status in the field of domestic and international medical education and its positive impact has been revealed. Although this case only shows examples of the development and operation of IPE programs at the undergraduate level, it can be seen that even in Korea, if the operation strategy is well established, the application of IPE is never impossible.