Developing an interprofessional education programme for a health science faculty in South Africa: A multi-method study

OBJECTIVE: Work-ready graduates need to be equipped with expertise and therefore, critical changes are required in the curricula for health professions. Here, we aimed to review the design of an interprofessional education programme (IPE) with regards to appropriateness and implementation for the Faculty of Health Sciences at North-West University, South Africa. METHODS: This study employed a sequential multi-method design to develop an IPE programme for a health science faculty in South Africa. A scoping review was conducted to synthesise the structure, development and implementation processes of IPE programmes globally. This was followed by an analysis of IPE programmes from institutions on five continents. Subsequently, the perspectives of international experts on the development and implementation of IPE programmes were explored in a qualitative study. This was followed by a university context analysis and the development of a draft IPE programme was designed based on the data synthesised from all preliminary studies. The programme was presented to faculty to evaluate and provide input by applying a nominal group technique. RESULTS: For the scoping review, ten steps to the IPE programme development process were developed. For the qualitative document analysis, a step-by-step guide and to-do list were provided to guide educators in conceptualising, developing, implementing and reviewing their IPE programmes. For the qualitative exploratory descriptive design, four themes were identified after the analysis of transcripts. An optional 3-year IPE programme was developed to serve as a precursor for full credit integration of the IPE into the faculty of health science curricula during future development of the health science curricula. CONCLUSION: The optional 3-year IPE programme developed will serve as a precursor for the integration of a credit-bearing IPE programme into the Faculty of Health Sciences curricula during future development.