In November, the IPE Council organized its second Annual Introductory Chiropractic Lecture for University of Toronto Medical students. The night, which featured a presentation delivered by Dr. Paula Stern, CMCC’s Director of Graduate Studies, delved into the role of chiropractic in health care. The presentation was well received by the audience, a mix of medical and chiropractic students.

The IPE Council has consistently been evaluating their events with online surveys. In an informal survey, as many as 84 per cent of the students indicated that they would recommend the talk to a classmate.

In January 2009, the council was excited to be part of the Ontario Interprofessional Health Collaborative Conference. There, we had the opportunity to present our own research for the first time entitled “Student-Led Interprofessional Education Revolution: Developing the Diamond Approach”. The approach focuses on incorporating a multitude of learning environments for students to learn with, from and about each other.

In March, the IPE Council presented this research again at the National Health Sciences Students' Association (NaHSSA) Conference, hosted by Queens University. The council was awarded first prize for their research, and, as a result, it will be published in the Journal of Interprofessional Care. In late March, over 25 CMCC students joined naturopathic and Ottawa medical students for a weekend conference in Ottawa. There, students had the opportunity to learn about each other’s professions at a variety of workshops, lectures and problem-based learning sessions. In April, sixteen CMCC students were paired with sixteen UofT medical students for the Second Annual Student Exchange Program. Students from both programs had the opportunity to visit each other’s campus, and learn about each other’s profession.

The 2008-2009 academic year has been an eventful, yet rewarding, year for the IPE Council. It could not have been possible without the support of the council’s first-ever faculty mentors; Lenore Edmunds and Dr. Kopansky-Giles. The IPE Council looks forward to the 2009-2010 year.

UPDATE

Next year the IPE Council will have a great opportunity to continue to build relationships with other professions and student organizations throughout Canada. Former President of the IPE Council, Luciano Di Loreto, has been the first chiropractic student elected to the Board of Governors of the National Health Sciences Students’ Association. National Health Sciences Students' Association (NaHSSA) was established in 2005 and is the first national interprofessional student association in the world. NaHSSA is a network of local university and college-based chapters that promote interprofessional education and practice within Canada. NaHSSA enables students to advocate for, and learn from, this form of education through social networking and leadership opportunities. Please visit the NaHSSA website to learn more what is occurring at the national student interprofessional level (http://www.nahssa.ca/en/gateway).