Abstract
In contemporary healthcare systems, effective collaboration among professionals is essential to meet patients’ complex and evolving needs. The quality and safety of healthcare delivery hinge not only on individual competence but also on multidisciplinary teams’ ability to communicate, share expertise, and work cohesively. Many higher education institutions (HEIs) have adopted interprofessional simulation-based education to foster these skills, whereby students from diverse healthcare disciplines train together, mirroring real-world clinical environments.
Despite its proven benefits, a siloed approach to teaching persists in many academic settings. Students often remain segregated by discipline, learning primarily within their own professional frameworks with limited exposure to the roles, perspectives, and contributions of other healthcare team members. This fragmented model of education risks producing graduates who are ill-prepared for the collaborative nature of modern healthcare practice.
Given the increasing emphasis on team-based care, there is a pressing need for educational strategies that break these disciplinary barriers. By integrating interprofessional simulation (IPS) learning experiences early in curricula, HEIs can better equip future healthcare professionals with the collaborative competencies required for safe, patient-centred care.
The purpose of this study was to develop strategies to facilitate teaching and learning through IPS at an HEI in Gauteng. A qualitative, explorative, descriptive, and contextual research design was used in conducting this study over three phases. Phase 1 consisted of two stages: Phase 1A explored, described and clarified the conceptual meaning of ‘interprofessional simulation’. Phase 1B was the empirical phase aimed at exploring and describing lecturers’, Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) managers’, and students’ perspectives on facilitating IPS. The empirical phase included focus group discussions with purposefully selected students and in-depth individual interviews with a purposively selected sample of lecturers and management from different departments within the FHS of the selected HEI in Gauteng.
Data from Phase 1 were analysed using a thematic descriptive data analysis process, and findings were contextualised in the literature. Lincoln and Guba’s framework for trustworthiness was used, and the researcher conducted the research in an ethically acceptable manner. The study’s findings are articulated in five themes: Theme 1: Promotion of interprofessional and collaborative practice learning activities. Theme 2: Prerequisite for...