�� Integrative Health and Social Care Education Centre (PIHC)

Supporting interprofessional learning across the Faculty of Health so students can learn with, from and about each other

�� Integrative Health and Social Care Education Centre (PIHC)

Supporting interprofessional learning across the Faculty of Health so students can learn with, from and about each other

Most of you will have had some form of experience with the healthcare system in your lifetime.

While our programmes at �� are designed and delivered with a single goal in mind - be that to become an Adult Health Nurse or an Occupational Therapist, for example - your experience will have shown you that healthcare is a collaborative, interprofessional environment.

PIHC, or The �� Integrative Health and social care education Centre, is a new initiative within the Faculty of Health that supports interprofessional learning (IPL) across our suite of healthcare programmes, so that our students are given opportunities to learn with, from and about each other.

IPL is an effective tool in equipping students with transferrable skills that are valuable for their future careers.

Discover more about interprofessional learning

We want the next generation of healthcare professionals to step into the workforce as confident practitioners from day one, and perhaps on the diversity of programmes within the faculty allows us to facilitate this by bringing various disciplines together - from Diagnostic Radiography to Dietetics, Dental Surgery to Clinical Physiology, and from Psychology to Child Health Nursing.

PIHC embeds these opportunities for all stage one students studying a health and social care programme, and continues to develop the initiative throughout your degree.

PIHC ultimately allows you to feel supported, feel valued and develop cross-collaborative skills in a safe and risk-free environment.

It was so interesting to hear about healthcare roles outside of medicine and what other members of the MDT do.

Stage one BMBS student

Healthcare systems always require improvement, it’s easier to know how to improve your area if you know how other areas work too.

Stage one adult nursing student

It is great to know how to ensure all of our professions can work effectively together. This benefits the service user and staff.

Stage one adult nursing student

Further opportunities

In addition to embedded interprofessional learning, PIHC also supports further opportunities for students across the Faculty to come together such as:

Schwartz Rounds: a confidential forum for students and staff to talk about the emotional impact of their work and studies.
C4CHEd: an international collaboration promoting compassion in health and social care education.
Tea-Time Teaching: a series of student-led sessions where students present to their peers on a topic of their choice.
PIHC Connect: a series of recorded episodes that follow a patient's journey providing an inter-professional learning experience for students.

PIHC members

Each school within the Faculty is represented in PIHC through an interprofessional learning (IPL) lead.

The IPL leads work with the PIHC director to support and facilitate IPL opportunities, working to embed these in their schools' programmes.

PIHC also works with a research fellow, harnessing the breadth of our Faculty to contribute to literature on interprofessional education.

Meet the team

Dr Phil Gee

Associate Dean for Teaching and Learning

Director of PIHC
Dr Karen Johnstone

Associate Professor of Genetics and Genomics (Education)

Interprofessional Learning Lead - Peninsula Medical School
Dr Rosi Raine

Deputy Head of School

Interprofessional Learning Lead - School of Health Professions
Ms Andrea-Lorien Stebbings

Associate Professor in Midwifery Education

Interprofessional Learning Lead - School of Nursing and Midwifery
Dr Nicola King

Associate Professor of Cardiac Physiology

Interprofessional Learning Lead - School of Biomedical Sciences
Professor Jackie Andrade

Professor in Psychology

Interprofessional Learning Lead - School of Psychology
Dr Ness Avery

Clinical Lecturer in Dental Education

Interprofessional Learning Co-Lead - Peninsula Dental School
Miss Safiya Robinson

Clinical Lecturer in Dental Education

Interprofessional Learning Co-Lead - Peninsula Dental School