An International Interprofessional Health Quality Graduate Internship: The Shared Gains of Educational-Research Partnerships

The challenges inherent in improving health quality and safety, as well as the intentions to address them, are seen globally. Like the healthcare teams themselves, multiple perspectives from varying professional backgrounds and contexts can best leverage ideas and solutions. As we provide advanced education about safety, quality and risk in health to current and future leaders, we have come to appreciate the importance of global connectedness and the exceptional opportunities that can be provided to students. This paper is about an innovative PhD in Health Quality program, which includes a practical internship. Specifically, we describe an international internship that occurred for one Canadian doctoral student with a UK research partner. This experience has confirmed the value of internships as applied to health quality and safety, and particularly as an opportunity to work with and learn from researchers with differing professional backgrounds. Further, this practical experience led to an expanded depth and breadth of knowledge (both theoretical and applied) for this doctoral student.