QU to host international conference on interprofessional practice, education

Abstract submissions are open until February 13 for the 11th International Conference on Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice (IPECP) All Together Better Health (ATBH), being hosted by Qatar University (QU) on November 6, bringing the biennial event to the Middle East for the first time.Announcement of decisions will be by April. Registration for the conference can be done either individually or by groups. Abstracts can be submitted in various categories. The first category is workshops, each of 90 minutes. The second category is oral presentations with a duration of 10-minutes followed by 5-minutes for questions and answers.The third category is posters. The fourth category is Pearls of Wisdom Talks which includes sharing experiences in a 5-minute presentation. The fifth category is the Discovery Majlis which is a 30-minute peer-assisted learning session using a 5-minute story, and a brainstorming session to help answer any question.The conference provides a collaborative forum for transnational champions to promote IPECP towards improving global health through consensus-based partnership, sharing ideas and addressing emerging healthcare challenges. The conference is expected to attract more than 500 participants from health and social care professionals, medical education professors, policy makers and students across the globe.The theme for the conference is "Cultivating a Collaborative Culture: Sharing Pearls of Wisdom” with the following sub-themes related to interprofessional education and collaborative practice: sharing models of best practice, informing national, regional and global policies and standards, advocating for health and wellbeing, embracing diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, and promoting safety in and beyond health services.Prof Asmaa al-Thani, vice president of Health and Medical Sciences said: "This is an exclusive opportunity to connect the interprofessional health education to structured training models within a collaborative scheme. We look forward to meeting pioneers and experts in healthcare education and facilitate augmenting strategies that improve the interprofessional education in skills acquisition, fields collaboration and patient health services.”Director of clinical operations and engagement in QU Health and chairperson of the conference, Dr Alla El-Awaisi commented: "It is a tremendous honour to host the conference in Doha to provide the opportunity for participants to come from around the globe to share their pearls of wisdom about best practices in interprofessional education and collaborative practice to set the interprofessional agenda forward and build upon the past conferences’ success.”Deputy chair of the Board of Directors of Interprofessional Global and associate Professor from the School of Nursing at the University of the Free State, South Africa, Dr Champion Nyoni, added: "The conference is the pinnacle of all things interprofessional education and collaborative practice within the global landscape. In this first ever conference held in the Middle East, we will share pearls of wisdom with each other through partnership, engagement, and interaction. Students, educators, health and social care practitioners, policy makers and health system executives will gather and engage towards advancing interprofessionalism worldwide.”