Interprofessional and Intraprofessional Education: Overview

Healthcare is becoming complicated and is more technology-driven. To ensure effective use of healthcare technologies and to optimize patient outcomes, health professionals must work on coordination within healthcare disciplines (Intraprofessional collaboration) and other disciplines (interprofessional collaboration). Patient-centeredness, the more updated healthcare driver involves the patient as the team leader and all facilities revolve around the patient. Patient-centered care can be achieved only through effective collaboration among health providers. This chapter of the encyclopedia provides an overview of interprofessional education, presents challenges, and offers solutions for incorporating interprofessional education in health professional curricula. A brief overview is also provided on intraprofessional education. Whenever applicable, the chapter provides more focus on issues pertinent to developing countries.