On September 9, over 500 first-year students from the University of Iowa Colleges of Pharmacy, Medicine, Nursing, Dentistry, and Public Health convened at the Iowa Memorial Union for a kick-off event highlighting interprofessional education at the University of Iowa.

Both nationally and at the University of Iowa, there is growing momentum and demand for health care that is delivered by high functioning teams of professionals. As a result, interprofessional education, in which different health professions' students learn about, from, and with each other to improve collaboration and quality of care, is essential to educating students that are prepared to deliver team-based care.

The kick-off event is part of an 18-month interprofessional course in which students from the various health sciences at the University of Iowa will team-up to begin the process of interprofessional education. All 108 first-year pharmacy students are enrolled in the course and took part in the event.