The merit of mandatory interprofessional education for pre-health professional students.

Background: Since the World Health Organization identified interprofessional education (IPE) as an important component of primary health care in 1978, health sciences educators continue to debate when it might be best to introduce IPE into the academic training of health professionals. While IPE continues to be offered at increasingly early stages in students’ professional development, few if any IPE initiatives have targeted undergraduate pre-health professional students who are likely to enter health professional programs.Objectives: To design, execute and evaluate the effectiveness of a mandatory IPE initiative targeting students in their first year of a general undergraduate health science education.Methods: An integrated exercise was created to introduce students to eight health professions and the underlying concepts of interprofessionalism through self-directed independent research, problem-based learning and collaborative group discussions. A two-part questionnaire was developed using a seven poin...