IMPACT OF PEER COACHING TO PREPARE HEALTH PROFESSIONS FACULTY FOR INTERPROFESSIONAL EDUCATION AND PRACTICE

Peer coaching is an innovative strategy for faculty development that can strengthen faculty teaching skills, particularly for interdisciplinary faculty in the health professions, as they work to improve student learning outcomes. Moreover, interdisciplinary faculty peer coaching pairs align strongly with interprofessional education core domains of teamwork and communication while also strengthening faculty skills in self-reflection and pedagogical awareness. The goals of this chapter are to provide a brief history of interprofessional education in the health professions, review the literature on how faculty are prepared to engage in interprofessional education, and recommend peer coaching as a faculty development strategy to improve teaching skills. The chapter concludes with a case study detailing the peer coaching process among health professions faculty, providing applications and considerations for moving forward with peer coaching to ultimately strengthen the interprofessional education of health professionals.