Interprofessional Accredited Continuing Education for the Healthcare Team: A Review of 7 Cystic Fibrosis Courses

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: For accredited continuing education to be categorized as interprofessional, each activity must meet certain criteria as defined by the Joint Accreditation for Interprofessional Continuing Education (JA) including an integrated planning process that includes health care professionals from 2 or more professions who are reflective of the target audience members the activity is designed to address, an instructional design intent to achieve outcome(s) that reflect a change in skills, strategy, or performance of the health care team and/or patient outcomes; reflection of 1 or more of the interprofessional competencies; opportunities for learners to learn with, from, and about each other; and evaluation that seeks to determine changes in skills, strategy, performance of one's role or contribution as a member of the healthcare team; and/or impact on the healthcare team; and/or impact on patient outcomes. METHODS: Analysis of instructional design factors and learner data from 7 Courses (7 Enduring Activities each with 4-6 Modules); use data about what was accomplished to analyze the degree to which we met our goals of developing interprofessional accredited CE Courses. Data points to include: Diversity of Planning team members (healthcare professionals from 2 or more professions); An intent to achieve outcome(s) that reflect a change in skills, strategy, or performance of the health care team and/or patient outcomes; Addressing interprofessional competencies (to include): values/ ethics, roles/ responsibilities, interprofessional communication, and teams/teamwork; An opportunity for learners to learn with, from, and about each other (active learning); Post-activity evaluations that seek to determine: Changes in skills, strategy, performance of one's role or contribution as a member of the healthcare team; and/or Impact on the healthcare team; and/or Impact on patient outcomes. CONCLUSION: These Cystic Fibrosis 7 Courses are strong examples of Interprofessional accredited continuing education for the healthcare team. This model of CE Courses to address clinical practice gaps is a blueprint that can be utilized for other IU schools and departments.