Planning interprofessional education initiatives in Australia: mapping regulatory expectations and the implications for health professional education

Empirically based guidelines advocate for the inclusion of interprofessional education (IPE) in university health profession programs. These guidelines are intended to influence curricula, with universities also required to meet accreditation standards for individual professions. Standards are arguably a predominant driver for tertiary institutions and health professional courses. However, course accreditation processes primarily adopt a uni-professional focus; therefore, development of interprofessional competencies may not feature strongly in the educational preparation of health professionals. Furthermore, barriers to IPE are well documented and concerted effort is needed to champion and adopt interprofessional practice (IPP). This work seeks to explore the accreditation and practice standards of a sample of health professional courses in Australia to inform institutional IPE strategies and curriculum renewal processes within a higher education setting. We analyzed accreditation and practice standards and related policies for six healthcare professions. The inquiry focused on determining what graduates from each of the professions are expected to know, do and/or value with respect to IPP. Results demonstrate considerable difference in IPE and IPP expectations in the professional and accreditation standards of the professions explored. We describe how the findings can inform institutional reform for IPE and what can be learned from accreditation efforts in other countries.