Going 4D: Embedding the Four Dimensional Framework for Curriculum Design

Abstract

The University of Derby has a history of interprofessional development, initially called Shared Learning, since 1992. When the initial research investigation was conceived, the Government in the UK had already been advocating the value of shared learning teamwork for professionals within the NHS for almost 30 years. The Government saw this as a means of providing better care for the service user as well as a way of reducing costs in terms of higher education. In contrast, the profession and professionals themselves perceived that the sharing involved in this type of teamwork was a way of eroding their professional base. They believed that eventually several generic workers could be employed instead of the professionals themselves, and so resisted the challenge of sharing information in teams and, at the time, sought to protect their own individual professional base (Forman, 2000). Nevertheless the University of Derby saw the development of shared learning and interprofessional learning as an opportunity to bring occupational therapists, diagnostic and therapeutic radiographers together with a curriculum designed to enhance the sharing that could take place between their studies. Due to the changes in leadership of these areas the profile of interprofessional education and practice was not seen as quite so important. The appointment of a new Dean in 2004 however re-engaged the teaching teams to learn from practice internationally and to include education practice and research on the interprofessional agenda at Derby. One of these changes will be covered in this chapter based on the writing team’s involvement with action research using a model developed over seven years in Australia.