Preparing health science students to be effective health care team members: the InterProfessional Initiative at the University of Alberta

The InterProfessional Initiative at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, provides learning strategies to be effective health care team members for over 800 undergraduate students in 14 health professions. This paper traces the evolution of the initiative over the past decade and describes future directions. Particular attention is given to the administrative and academic structures and processes required to launch, develop and sustain an initiative of this scale in a major research-intensive university. The paper concludes by reviewing the evaluative work underway and reflecting on the key success factors.