Description

Global Interprofessional Education (IPE) brings together healthcare students from diverse professions to foster collaborative problem-solving and patient care. Through global interprofessional teams, students learn to navigate varied communication styles and cultural perspectives while promoting cross-professional dialogue. This exposure challenges traditional professional silos, which often develop due to curricular barriers and time constraints, while encouraging understanding and respect for cultural differences in healthcare practice (Ganotice et al., 2023; Choudhury et al., 2020).

While traditional global education typically relies on costly, time-intensive travel programs, Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) offers an accessible alternative. COIL enables interactive engagement between students and faculty from diverse international backgrounds through virtual collaboration (Hackett et al., 2023). Research demonstrates that COIL enhances intercultural team interaction while providing universities with cost-effective global engagement opportunities (Commander et al., 2022).

This study examines the impact of interprofessional COIL experiences on students, faculty, and clinicians across two nations. Online learning events were developed with faculty from multiple healthcare disciplines at a private university in Campinas, Brazil. These events featured presentations on shared healthcare topics, followed by interprofessional breakout sessions addressing case studies and subsequent debriefing discussions. A Canvas course platform supported each event, hosting participant introductions, learning objectives, speaker resources, and research materials. Students were required to attend events, submit case study responses, and complete evaluation surveys, while faculty and clinicians were invited to complete optional evaluations.

These events provided low-stakes opportunities for participants to discuss ideas, shared values, professional roles, clinical experiences, and healthcare system differences across cultures. The study evaluates outcomes using the Brief Attitudes Survey for Interprofessional Collaborative-Learning (BASIC-L) and qualitative analysis of participant feedback. This research aims to demonstrate how structured online collaboration can promote interprofessional competencies and cross-cultural understanding while overcoming traditional barriers in healthcare education.

Learning Objectives

1. Evaluate the effectiveness of a COIL experience as an alternative to traditional global health education experiences.
2. Describe the design and implementation of cross-national IPE events using online platforms and case-based learning.
3. Analyze the impact of virtual interprofessional collaboration on healthcare students' attitudes toward cross-cultural teamwork.

Speakers

Carol Gawrys, MSN, DNP
Clinical Program Manager, Salem State University

Jeramie Silveira, OTD, MSOTR
Director of The Center for Interprofessional Education, Salem State University

Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

Recording date: July 17, 2025
Date of original release: July 17, 2025
Most recent review/update: July 17, 2025
Termination date: July 16, 2028