Seminar

Transforming Innovative Interprofessional Education (IPE) in the Metaverse

Tuesday, September 16, 2025, 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm CDT
immersive learninginterprofessional collaborationvirtual innovation

This 60-minute seminar will immerse participants in the transformative potential of the metaverse as a tool for advancing interprofessional education (IPE). Building on an institutional case study from West Coast University, the presenters will demonstrate how immersive virtual environments were used to reimagine a traditional IPE Day—creating an inclusive, engaging, and accessible space where learners from multiple health professions could collaborate in real time.
Attendees will experience a guided tour of the virtual event, which included avatar-based interaction, a dynamic speaker series, and a virtual exhibition hall designed to simulate real-world collaborative practice. The presenters will discuss the planning, technological platforms (e.g., FrameVR, Gather), and instructional design that made the event possible, and share learner feedback that supports the model’s efficacy. This interactive session will empower educators and clinicians to implement scalable, virtual IPE strategies that prepare students to work in team-based, digital, and hybrid healthcare environments.
Aligned with the Nexus Summit 2025 theme—“Preparing Students for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice”—this seminar centers on how immersive learning technologies can enhance IPE engagement, especially among geographically distributed or marginalized learners. By simulating the complexities of team-based care in a virtual world, students learn about, from, and with each other in new, deeply collaborative ways. The session emphasizes how innovative IPE formats support the development of competencies critical to the future of health care, including communication, role clarity, and systems-based practice.