Health Professions Fair highlights power of collaboration in health care

Hundreds of health-care students gathered at SAIT on October 1, 2025 for the annual Health Professions Fair, an interprofessional education (IPE) event designed to build collaboration and understanding among future health professionals. The fair, hosted in partnership by the University of Calgary, SAIT, and Medicine Hat College, brought together more than 1000 students from 17 different programs to explore the vital connections that make healthcare teams work.

For UCalgary Nursing student Genevieve Comb, the day offered a powerful new perspective on what it means to be part of a multidisciplinary team.

“You get to see a lot of different perspectives and how health teams work together,” she says. “Most people think nurses and doctors make up the whole medical team, which isn’t true. There are so many roles that support patients behind the scenes.”

Students participated in simulated case studies based on real-world scenarios — from trauma and rehabilitation to community care — working alongside peers from paramedicine, medical laboratory technology, physiotherapy, and other programs. Each group observed actors portraying standardized patients and professionals, then reflected together on how collaboration shapes patient outcomes.

“It was really cool to see how all the jobs intertwined and supported one another,” Comb adds. “We learned that everyone has something valuable to contribute and that health care works best when we all work as a team.”

For Tegen Etosha Dunnill Jones, a UCalgary Nursing sessional instructor and facilitator at the event, those realizations are exactly the point.

“Before the event, many students have little experience in a multi-disciplinary environment and are reluctant to mix into groups with unfamiliar people,” she explains. “But by the end, they’ve learned about healthcare roles other than their own, and that breaks down the idea of hierarchy or siloed work. They start to see each other as colleagues working toward the same goal — supporting the patient.”

The fair offered rotating case studies, reflection sessions, and guided discussions and has evolved over years of refinement by organizers such as Amanda O’Rae, associate professor and IPE lead at UCalgary Nursing. She says the fair has evolved beyond a traditional “career fair” to focus on lived patient experiences and the teamwork that supports them.

“This is our opportunity to expose students to one another and to the full spectrum of the healthcare team,” O’Rae says. “It’s about role clarification, knowing who’s in the room, what they do, and how they contribute. Students see why communication and collaboration are just as essential as clinical skill.”

O’Rae, who has worked on interprofessional education initiatives since 2009, emphasizes that these learning experiences mirror what students will encounter in practice.

“You can’t fully meet the priorities and needs of patients without working collaboratively,” she says. “These are complex skills that take time and practice to develop. Events like this give students the chance to build those skills early — before they’re on the floor with real patients.”

As part of a collaborative effort with organizers from SAIT the event was a big success again this years. Jennifer Stefura, Supervisor, Quality and Strategic Initiatives, School of Health and Public Safety talked about how events like these remove the silos our medical system is often placed into.

“Our medical system is siloed in how we train people and also in how we treat people,” says Stefura. “We need different perspectives from different health professionals to help us see the bigger picture.”

By the end of the day there was a feeling that this issue is being addressed. From her perspective Combs said she left with a renewed sense of respect for every member of the health-care system.

“I learned to be grateful for everyone and all the jobs that make health care work,” she reflects. “We need to help patients be proactive and support one another as professionals. It’s not about who’s more important — it’s about working together to give the best care possible.”

Through events like the Health Professions Fair, students gain not only awareness of their own roles but also confidence in their place within the broader health-care team — preparing them to collaborate, communicate, and care more effectively for their future patients.