This thesis investigated the intersection of quality improvement (QI) and interprofessional collaborative practice (ICP) in the context of health professions education. The overall aim of the thesis was to explore the potential synergies between QI education and ICP education and to develop a framework that supports a system’s approach to QI and ICP integration for health professional learners’ education.

Using a convergent parallel mixed methods approach, where the results of all the individual studies are synthesized in interpretation, the thesis is made up of one quantitative intervention study and three qualitative case studies. The intervention study analysed changes to self-reflection about interprofessional teams before and after participating in a QI activity. The qualitative studies used a mix of one-on-one interviews, stimulated recall interviews, document analysis, and a focus group.

The first study found significant increases in reflection scores in a majority of the 16 items measured, indicating that a quality improvement-focused learning activity in an ICP setting can support development of ICP related knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs. The second and third study reported on faculty perspectives about what should be taught in an integrated QI-ICP curriculum, in the form of competency domains, and how it should be taught in terms of curriculum design. The fourth study offered key insights into how program transformation in higher education can be better enabled in practice, using the integration of a QI-ICP curriculum as the case, while also suggesting refinements to a complex adaptive systems-based change management framework.

The findings of the four studies were synthesized through the lens of micro-meso-macro system perspectives and points of convergence and divergence were noted in order to develop a more complete picture of QI-ICP integration in health professions education. The results include a framework of design principles to support faculty to integrate QI and ICP education, whether working on curricular innovations in their own classroom, working on an interconnected program of learning, or attempting curricular transformation at the scale of the macrosystem.