ABSTRACT
Professions work better together when they learn together thereby improving the quality of care for service users. That is the proposition, a proposition as seductive as it is simple. The reality is more complex. Interprofessional education can have a direct and positive impact on the quality of care, but its benefits can also be diffuse and indirect defying easy evaluation. It takes many forms with many objectives, mostly interim, that may, under favourable conditions, contribute towards better care.
Much has been learned about different types of interprofessional education and their outcomes during the 30 years since it took root (Barr 1994, 2002; Barr et al 1999; Freeth et al 2002). Much has also been demanded which, depending on your point of view, complements or competes with the original proposition.
This chapter unpacks interprofessional education, selecting examples, each with a different objective and making a different contribution.
