Developing and Maintaining Interprofessional Teams in Rural and Remote Settings

Abstract

Regional, rural and remote Australia is diverse, not only in terms of the landscape, but also in ways that influence cultural, spiritual and operational aspects of health service delivery. Dotted across the landscape there are 16 Australian Government funded University Departments of Rural Health (UDRHs). These UDRHs support health professional students to undertake real world, rural focussed practice-based educational experiences, facilitated by interprofessional academic teams. As such, UDRHs can lay claim to considerable expertise in the delivery of interprofessional education, as well in the development and implementation of new models of interprofessioanl team-based care. This chapter describes the features of rural health services and the numerous intersections with interprofessional education and team-based health care.