Interprofessional education (IPE) occurs when:
"learners of two or more health or social care professions engage in [intentionally] learning with, from and about each other to improve collaboration and the quality of care and services."
Centre for Collaborative Health Professional Education (CAIPE 2017)
Worldwide, there is recognition that learning and collaborating interprofessionally in the health care environment result in better care for the patient/client: this is interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP).
Interprofessional education (IPE) prepares students to be collaborative practitioners. It is a core part of health professional training and education, both pre- and post-registration. At Otago, IPE is embedded in health professional degree programmes, often in partnership with other tertiary education institutions.