Our Approach

What is Interprofessional Education?

Interprofessional Education (IPE) enables students from different fields to interact and learn in a way that prepares them for the seamless teamwork of interprofessional collaborative practice necessary for successful modern patient care delivery. 

Why is it Important?

The IPE program ensures that students and trainees in health professions build a skill set that will ultimately increase patient safety, reduce errors, maximize efficiencies, and improve quality of care. 

When did IPE start at UCSF?

The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is an institution dedicated to educating future health care professionals. Its schools of dentistry, medicine, nursing and pharmacy, and its physical therapy program are among the leading professional schools and programs in the U.S. While traditionally UCSF provided a range of isolated IPE opportunities, in 2003 a more coordinated approach to the development and delivery of IPE was established. An IPE Task Force was charged with determining how best to expand IPE into the UCSF curriculum. The Task Force created a roadmap that offered a number of ideas aimed at designing, implementing, and evaluating a range of IPE activities. These IPE activities have evolved since that time into the current activities outlined throughout this website.

What are the Goals of IPE?

  1. Develop innovative interprofessional health education curricula, programs, and collaborative clinical practice sites.
  2. Establish interprofessional research, scholarship, and training agenda, responsive to specific community needs.

By the end of each UCSF student's training, s/he will have interprofessional didactic, clinical, research and/or laboratory experiences that will facilitate an appreciation of the diversity of knowledge and perspectives inherent in interprofessional teams that enhance patient care, public service and research. To meet this goal, we offer a range of opportunities for our faculty, staff, and learners.