The Center for Interprofessional Healthcare Education uses a collaborative approach that helps develop healthcare professionals who are capable of providing evidence-based, coordinated and patient-centered health care. The center enables faculty, students and community partners to learn together, identify effective and efficient delivery options and engage in team practice that meets the challenges of 21st-century healthcare.

The overarching purpose of the Center for Interprofessional Healthcare Education is to give students in the School of Health Sciences, School of Nursing, and Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine the opportunity to develop skills in hands-on, team-based healthcare environments, preparing them for all of the obstacles inherent in modern healthcare.

Interprofessional (IP) education is when students from two or more professions learn about, from and with each other.1 The goal of interprofessional education is to help prepare future health professionals for enhanced team-based care of patients and improved population health outcomes.2

Educational opportunities from the Center for Interprofessional Education revolve around the quadruple aim of healthcare: improve the patient experience of care, improve the health of populations, reduce the per capita cost of healthcare and improve the work life of healthcare providers.3 The center embeds the core competencies of interprofessional education (values and ethics, roles and responsibilities, interprofessional communication, and teams and teamwork2) into various learning activities to better prepare students to become high-quality healthcare providers.

The program of distinction is an optional program that enables groups of students from all of Quinnipiac’s healthcare-based programs to develop the core competencies of interprofessional, team-based health care. 


Program requirements include 60 hours of knowledge and skills development, experiential learning activities. Graduating with the distinction in interprofessional healthcare education gives students an advantage as it proves to employers that they have experienced the team dynamic that defines patient care today. A digital badge is a formal recognition certifying completion and competence of interprofessional education activities; badges can be displayed in a variety of online platforms including email, social media and social networking sites. 

Visit the CIHE resource website on MyQ for a full list of offerings.

Visit the Interprofessional Healthcare page on our website for more information.

1

WHO (World Health Organization). Framework for action on interprofessional education and collaborative practice. [March 4, 2013]. 
https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/framework-for-action-on-interprofessional-education-collaborative-practice 

2

Interprofessional Education Collaborative. (2016). Core competencies for interprofessional collaborative practice: 2016 update. Washington, D.C.: Interprofessional Education Collaborative.

3

Bodenheimer T., Sinsky C. From triple to quadruple aim: care of the patient requires care of the provider. Ann Fam Med. 2014;12(6):573-576. doi:10.1370/afm.1713