Professor Abdelhalim Deifalla, Dean of the College of Medicine and Health Sciences at Arabian Gulf University (AGU), participated in the Second International Conference on Interprofessional Health Education Strategies and Effective Collaborative Practice, recently held under the theme: “Bridging the Gap and Measuring the Impact.” The conference was organised by the College of Medicine at King Khalid University in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in collaboration with the Arab Network for Interprofessional Collaboration and the Saudi Society for Medical Education.

The event gathered deans of medical colleges from GCC countries and Saudi universities, besides international medical education experts and leading clinical practitioners. Its goal was to promote interprofessional health education, strengthen collaborative practice, and improve health and academic system outcomes. The conference featured 30 lectures and four training workshops. Key themes included modern trends in interprofessional health education, governance and accreditation, establishing health excellence institutes, regional integration for healthcare team training, the role of AI in enhancing professional collaboration, and approaches to designing healthcare team-based educational systems.

Participating deans and medical education specialists concluded with several scientific recommendations, notably: the establishment of a Centre of Excellence for Interprofessional Health Education; raising awareness about the importance of integrated health education and collaboration among health colleges; developing integrated curricula stressing practical skills and communication among medical teams; employing modern technology and AI in virtual simulation to enhance interactive learning and provide realistic training environments for students. They also highlighted the importance of supporting research and innovation in health education.

Moreover, they called for the encouragement of joint research and development projects that enhance healthcare quality, training medical personnel in teamwork, in addition to continuous evaluation and updating of curricula to align with scientific advancements and community needs.