Prioritizing competencies for interprofessional education: Expert insights for local and institutional implementation

Abstract Introduction Interprofessional education (IPE) is essential for fostering collaboration among health care professionals, yet its implementation in academic settings faces significant challenges. To facilitate stakeholder engagement in adapting a competency framework at the institutional level, we used Barr's categorization model to prioritize key collaborative competencies. This study explored expert perspectives on competency selection to inform the development of an IPE curriculum tailored to institutional needs. Method A modified Delphi method was employed to collect input from a diverse panel of 26 health care professionals with expertise in teaching, precepting, and curriculum development. Panel members prioritized 40 competencies from the Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative framework, identifying those that should be emphasized as core collaborative competencies for guiding the development of local IPE curricula. The process unfolded over three rounds, allowing experts to refine their responses based on group feedback. Results The study identified 26 core competencies for inclusion in the IPE curriculum. Despite a high consensus rate, comments and narrative feedback highlighted the importance of ensuring foundational knowledge is developed in uniprofessional programs before transitioning to interprofessional settings. Experts emphasized the need for holistic competency frameworks and noted challenges in sequencing, teachability, and assessment, particularly for competencies requiring experiential learning, such as conflict resolution and trust‐building. Conclusion This paper outlines the development of a shared institutional competency framework, emphasizing instructors' priorities and concerns in creating an IPE curriculum across health‐related programs at a bilingual university. The findings suggest that Barr's competency categorization is most effective when applied holistically, as isolating core IPE competencies can lead to confusion and misalignment with uniprofessional curricula. Moving forward, institutional support and active engagement with workplace learning stakeholders will be essential for successful implementation and long‐term sustainability.