In the spotlight: interprofessional and interdisciplinary learning

In the Spotlight: Interprofessional and Interdisciplinary Learning

Preparing for the Healthcare of Tomorrow

At UMC Utrecht, we are preparing for the future of healthcare by focusing on educational innovations and activities within six key themes of our education strategy, The New Utrecht School. One of these themes is interprofessional and interdisciplinary learning. Colleagues Annet van Royen-Kerkhof and Niels Bovenschen are ambassadors for this theme and share their insights.

"Dialogue as a Way to Approach Complex Issues"

"In a time of polarization, my way of dealing with complex issues is to seek dialogue. This approach requires skills that students can develop during their education," said Annet van Royen-Kerkhof, program director and professor of Interdisciplinary Education in Medicine at UMC Utrecht, during her recent inaugural lecture titled The New Utrecht School.

"Changes in healthcare require that physicians and researchers can apply concepts, evaluate new knowledge, and collaborate with professionals who think, see, and speak differently. And to view rapid (technological) changes not as threats, but as opportunities," Annet explains about the concept of interprofessional and interdisciplinary learning.

Interprofessional and Interdisciplinary Learning

This means that healthcare professionals should not only stay within their own field but also collaborate with others to develop effective solutions. Interprofessional learning involves working with professionals from other fields, such as engineers, nutritionists, communication specialists, and behavioral scientists.

Interdisciplinary learning, on the other hand, involves working with individuals from different disciplines, including patients themselves. By learning in this way, healthcare professionals can better tackle complex healthcare challenges and improve patient care. This is one of the core themes of our education strategy, The New Utrecht School.

Learning to Collaborate During Education

Since these skills are essential for healthcare professionals and researchers—both now and in the future—we integrate interprofessional and interdisciplinary collaboration into the education of our (bio)medical students. A great example of this is two interdisciplinary programs at Utrecht University:

• The Bachelor's in Care, Health, and Society, a collaboration between the faculties of Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, and Science.

• The Master's in Medical Humanities, a joint program of the faculties of Medicine and Humanities.

Annet: "Both programs are now running successfully in their third year. We are training students who possess a combination of scientific knowledge, human and societal insight, and future-proof skills." She also emphasizes that the effects of interdisciplinary collaboration are being studied: "The process of working with different disciplines is crucial. Research already shows that this approach produces better professionals."

Challenges with Students

Successful examples of interprofessional and interdisciplinary learning at UMC Utrecht include student challenges.

• In the BITT Challenge, students from the SUMMA medical research master's program, Biomedical Sciences (UU), TU Eindhoven master's programs, and WUR's Nutrition and Health master's program worked together to find solutions for challenges faced by patients.

• In the Long COVID Challenge, Women's Heart Challenge, and the recent Neuromuscular Diseases Challenge, 400 bachelor's students in Medicine and Biomedical Sciences collaborated on solutions.

• A new cancer research project involved 20 bachelor's students in Biomedical Sciences working in the Biomedicine Student Research Hub, in collaboration with pharmaceutical industry scientists, to address a research question posed by the biotechnology company Genmab.

Student Research Hub Network

Students not only come up with solutions but also have the opportunity to conduct their research. To support student-led research, UMC Utrecht and Utrecht University have established a Student Research Hub Network, which will be further developed in the coming years.

"The hubs in this network are physical innovation spaces with specific research expertise, designed especially for students. Here, students can collaborate with researchers, physicians, and patients to conduct interdisciplinary research in fields such as global health, AI, medical technology, medical humanities, and biomedical lab research. The focus is on teamwork, including collaboration between students from different study programs," says Niels Bovenschen, professor of research-driven education in biomedical sciences at UMC Utrecht.

"This is a unique initiative to promote interdisciplinary research and education. Not only students, but also researchers, healthcare professionals, and patients benefit from it. It is inspiring to see how education and our students contribute to initiating or strengthening (new) interdisciplinary collaborations in research—helping us tackle complex healthcare challenges together. This truly creates value on multiple levels."

About The New Utrecht School

As an education strategy, The New Utrecht School is part of UMC Utrecht's strategic direction. This allows us to train (future) professionals to creatively solve complex problems while taking responsibility for themselves, their patients, and society.

We focus on key areas of demand, including these six current themes:

• Translational Medicine & Life Sciences – Ambassadors: Marco van Brussel and Sanne ter Meulen

• Patient Participation – Ambassadors: Megan Milota and Roos de Jonge

• Inclusion & Diversity – Ambassadors: Tatjana Seute and Gönül Dilaver

• Planetary Health – Ambassador: Noortje Campman

• Interprofessional and Interdisciplinary Learning

• Resilience & Well-being

Read more about the education strategy The New Utrecht School – UMC Utrecht >