On 31 March 2026 Gulf Medical University (GMU) hosted a faculty development session on Interprofessional Education (IPE), delivered by Professor Alla El-Awaisi of Qatar University, a leading regional voice in collaborative healthcare education and a member of the Arab Network for Interprofessional Collaboration.
The session was coordinated by Dr. Rizwana Hussaindeen, Associate Professor, Program Director for Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, and Chair of the GMU IPE Committee, College of Health Sciences. And was convened for GMU’s IPE coordinators and facilitators, with open participation across colleges. Professor El-Awaisi drew on Qatar University’s decade-long experience implementing structured IPE, presenting the IPE Passport Model as a framework for longitudinal student engagement, alongside faculty development strategies, curriculum integration approaches, and practical solutions to common implementation barriers including scheduling, faculty buy-in, and competency-based assessment.
The session reinforced a well-established evidence base: interprofessional education improves teamwork, communication, and patient outcomes, and its sustained implementation requires both faculty commitment and institutional leadership.
GMU is currently advancing a structured three-phase IPE model, with the imminent launch of Phase 1 engaging first-year students across 11 Health Professions Programs in case-based discussions on professional roles, communication, and collaborative care.
