Interprofessional Care in Teaching Practices: Lessons From "Bright Spots"

Abstract

In this issue, Brandt and colleagues and Uhlig and colleagues highlight barriers faced by health professional schools implementing interprofessional education and describe how clinical learning environments can overcome those obstacles. Primary care residency teaching clinics provide an excellent opportunity for interprofessional education and patient care, with teachers and learners from various professions caring for patients together. This Invited Commentary offers three interprofessional education strategies used by five "bright spot" family medicine teaching clinics: (1) separate clinics for patients with complex health care needs during which learners from various professions see patients together; (2) interprofessional interactions in day-to-day patient care; and (3) case conferences across professions to discuss patients. The vignettes presented here demonstrate how the concepts outlined by Brandt and colleagues and Uhlig and colleagues can be put into practice.