Abstract
Background: Interprofessional education (IPE) prepares students from different health
professions to work together in complex healthcare systems worldwide. Although widely
valued, integrating IPE into discipline-bound health sciences curricula remains difficult, with
barriers limiting meaningful interprofessional learning experience. Simulation-based
education (SBE) addresses some challenges by providing risk-free enyjronments to practice
collaborative clinical skills and decision-making. However, gaps remain in adopting
simulation-based IPE in higher education institutions.
Aim: This study explored the experiences of management and lecturers adopting
technology-enhanced interprofessional simulation (TEIPS) within the Faculty of Health
Sciences (FHS).
Setting: This study was conducted in the FHS of a higher education institution based in
Johannesburg, South Africa.
Methods: A qualitative, descriptive, exploratory and contextual design was used. Semistructured
interviews were conducted with purposiYely sampled FHS management and
lecturers involved in SBE. Data were transcribed and analysed using the Matrix Building
Framework approach.
Results: TEIPS helps bridge limitations in traditional IPE by enabling personalised feedback,
supporting measurable teamwork behaviours and creating environments where purposeful
interdependence is essential for learning.
Conclusion: TEII>S functions most effectively in a curriculum-embedded ecosystem supported
by strong institutional leadership, sustained resources and struch1red faculty development
initiatives.
Contribution: This study addresses critical gaps in educator capacity building and the lack of
practice-informed approaches to integrating digital innovations into IPE. It shows how
purposeful interdependence, sustained faculty de\·elopment and curriculum integration
enable TEIPS as a measurable, sustainable and equity-enhancing IPE approach in diverse
contexts in varied contexts.