Interprofessional Education

Updated 2018 Tierney Kinnison

Interprofessional Education

Veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses work closely together on a daily basis. Their effectiveness in a practice depends not only on clinical skill, knowledge and expertise, but also on the ability to function well at an interprofessional level. To enable this to happen, the RVC are developing Interprofessional Education (IPE) between these two professional groups.

The World Health Organisation states that:

Interprofessional education occurs when students from two or more professions learn about, from and with each other to enable effective collaboration and improve health outcomes (WHO, 2010).

The RVC, therefore, aims to bring students from their veterinary and veterinary nursing degrees together in order to improve collaboration and ultimately benefit their patients and clients.

The iPET

The IPE Team at the RVC consists of a group of individuals from different professions and backgrounds with a keen interest in developing IPE. The team are: Tierney Kinnison (postdoctoral researcher), Alison Langridge (Registered Veterinary Nurse [RVN] and Assistant Lecturer in Veterinary Clinical Skills), Rachel Lumbis (RVN and Lecturer in Veterinary Nursing & Course Director FdSc VN & BSc VN) and Ruth Serlin (veterinary surgeon, MRCVS, and Lecturer in Veterinary Professionalism).

To view publications from the iPET, please click here.

The iPEC

The IPE Club is an RVC SU student-led club set up by veterinary and veterinary nursing students at the RVC, with support from the iPET. The iPEC run their own sign-up IPE sessions with assistance from sponsors and staff at the RVC.

IPE at the RVC

IPE sessions are being embedded into the Veterinary Nursing curricula, with volunteer veterinary students (roles/responsibilities, euthanasia, dentistry). Several additional IPE sessions are offered on a voluntary basis to both groups throughout the year (including on business skills, parasitology and weight management), organised by the iPET and iPEC.

Tools and Research from the RVC

Please view the following pages to learn more about tools and research regarding IPE from the RVC.

vIPEr – veterinary interprofessional education resources – the first research conducted and published on veterinary specific IPE, which led to two resources being embedded into the BSc Veterinary Nursing curricula at the RVC.

Free online tools – access to two free online tools for educators to share with students from veterinary related professions and occupations.

Insights into veterinary interprofessional interactions – find out more about Tierney’s PhD which involved mixed methods to investigate interprofessional working and learning in UK veterinary practices.

References

WHO, 2010. Framework for Action on Interprofessional Education & Collaborative Practice, Available at: http://www.who.int/hrh/nursing_midwifery/en/.