• Rosenthal B
• Lisi AJ

• Education, Medical
• Integrative Medicine / education
• Interprofessional Relations
• Open Access Document
• Surveys and Questionnaires

Today’s healthcare environment requires collaboration and cooperation among healthcare professions, whether working in a ‘virtual’ team or in an integrated clinical setting. Patients are best served when healthcare providers understand and respect each other’s professions and are able to work well together. The Academic Consortium for Complementary and Alternative Health Care (ACCAHC) conducted a survey to assess the extent and characteristics of interprofessional education (IPE) in the clinical training of students at accredited programs, colleges and universities of the licensed integrative health and medicine disciplines (chiropractic, acupuncture and Oriental medicine, naturopathic medicine, massage therapy, direct-entry midwifery). The survey was sent to 134 clinical training administrators, and we received responses from 88 for an overall response rate of 66%. There was much variation in the reported amount of IPE and the particular disciplines engaged in IPE activities with other disciplines during clinical training. Chiropractic institutions reported the most IPE, whereas direct-entry midwifery reported the least. Across all disciplines, multidisciplinary institutions generally reported more IPE in clinical training than single discipline institutions. Further work assessing the quality of such training, and its effect on subsequent practice, may help inform future educational strategies for the integrative health and medicine disciplines.

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