Abstract

Introduction
Interprofessional education (IPE) is widely regarded as essential for effective teamwork and decision-making in healthcare. Patient care in mountain and expedition medicine usually operates in interdisciplinary contexts involving clinicians, mountain rescue teams, mountain guides and expedition leaders. Despite this, the benefit and extent to which IPE is formally integrated into the international Diploma in Mountain Medicine (DiMM) programmes remains unclear. This study aims to develop and evaluate an IPE framework for the international DiMM curriculum to optimise interprofessional collaboration within mountain medicine education.

Methods
A multi-phased, sequential, mixed-methods design will be utilised. Phase one will map current IPE practices and stakeholder perceptions across international DiMM programmes through surveys and semi-structured interviews before undergoing thematic analysis. Phase two will benchmark these findings against established healthcare IPE frameworks and will use a Delphi process to derive expert consensus on core competencies and structural components for DiMM IPE. These competencies will be synthesised with empirical findings from phase one, using theories of communities of practice and legitimate peripheral participation, to construct a contextually appropriate IPE framework. Phase three will pilot the framework within selected DiMM programmes using validated evaluation tools to assess impact.

Expected Results
The study is expected to identify best practice and variation in IPE across DiMM providers and produce a consensus-derived and theory informed IPE framework tailored to mountain medicine education.

Conclusion
This research will provide the first structured and evidence-based IPE framework for DiMM programmes, supporting interdisciplinary training and contributing to the advancement of international mountain medicine education.