The QIHC was formed in September 2009 by a small group of representatives from health care education and delivery institutions in Qatar who shared a common desire for the delivery of high quality interprofessional health care education in this country. The group has developed a 3-year plan to improve interprofessional clinical education in Qatar. Plans for delivery will be described which will be facilitated by a grant awarded by the Qatar National Research Fund. Background and Description of the QIHC: The Qatar Interprofessional Healthcare Council (QIHC) was formed in 2009 by a group of representatives from the following educational and healthcare institutions: University of Calgary-Qatar School of Nursing Weill Cornell Medical College-Qatar College of the North Atlantic-Qatar Qatar University College of Pharmacy Hamad Medical Corp. (public healthcare institution) Sidra Medical and Research Center (publicly funded, private healthcare facility in planning stages) QIHC’s 3-year Plan and Description of Application and Award of Grant Funding The group is made up of high-ranking representatives from each of these institutions, and meets on a monthly basis. The group initially agreed on a definition of Interprofessional Education (IPE) developed a mutually-agreed upon mission, vision, and goals. Following this the QIHC formulated a 3-year plan to embed interprofessional collaboration into healthcare education and professional practice in Qatar. The group has successfully implemented the first year’s plan and consider that their efforts have been very successful to date. Efforts included a series of workshops presented by a panel from the QIHC to be presented at each academic institution. Participants were students and faculty from the various clinical educational facilities in Qatar, and the presentations have been very well received by both students and faculty. There was very active participation by the audience in each presentation and a great deal of interest and support from both faculty and students for the future development of IPE activities among the QIHC stakeholders. Implementation of the plan to date as well as future plans will be discussed. Challenges in the formation of the country-wide IPE group will be discussed as well as a description of how these challenges were overcome. This year the QIHC applied for and was awarded a substantial grant from the Qatar National Research Fund to carry out its 3-year plan to advance IPE and improve interprofessional healthcare delivery in Qatar. This will greatly assist the QIHC in being able to successfully implement its plan. The 3-year plan and the plans to use the grant funding to accomplish this and measure its success will be described.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio
