Health and Wellness Development Field School: An Inter-Professional Learning Opportunity

In May of 2023 and again in May of 2024, health and human services students from College of the Rockies and Saskatchewan Polytechnic participated in an innovative form of international learning – inter-professional education (IPE) abroad. They worked as inter-professional teams with students from Kenya’s Dedan Kimathi University of Technology to plan and execute a week-long “health week” to promote health and wellness on the part of Kimathi University students and employees.

IPE provides students with the skills necessary for the modern workplace through educators and learners from two or more health or other professions jointly creating and fostering a collaborative learning environment. College of the Rockies and Saskatchewan Polytechnic took IPE to a new level by delivering experiences abroad, thereby incorporating important dimensions of learning related to enhancing inter-cultural competencies and global awareness.

These learning abroad activities were supported by Global Skills Opportunity, the Government of Canada’s Outbound Student Mobility Pilot Program.