A pilot interprofessional education (IPE) program in the Philippines has been initiated in a private higher education institution by three Filipinos who were formally trained in IPE from a World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Research and Training on IPE. Guided by the WHO educator and curricular mechanisms on IPE and an understanding of the local context, a four-stage action plan was created for the pilot IPE program, which involved 10 health science programs. The experience from the initial implementation was challenging and required perseverance as well as inclusive leadership. Nevertheless, the program’s accomplishments such as continuous faculty training in IPE, constant communication among faculty members and students on IPE, and an inter-university collaboration to host the first-ever local IPE conference were noted. The article concludes with lessons learned from the pilot IPE program and future directions in further contributing to the growth and sustainability of IPE programs in the Philippines.

The Philippine Interprofessional Education and Collaboration (PhIPEC) Conference is the first-ever national program held in the Philippines on interprofessional education and collaboration (IPEC). This project, initiated through an inter-university partnership between University of Santo Tomas and Angeles University Foundation, aimed to facilitate uniform understanding of IPEC across higher education institutions and health facilities as well as to instigate IPEC related researches in the country. The two-day conference was able to gather over 80 participants from more than 10 health and social care professions and 15 speakers who shared their expertise in health education and practice. Aside from these, the initiative has also gathered more than 500 followings in Facebook Page and 161 members in the mailing list. With the turn-out of this initiative, there was a move to rename the group into PhIPEC Network. The network has been agreed upon to serve as an informal entity that represents a collective of Filipino health and social care professionals towards advocating collaborative learning and health care services. Future directions were also determined focused on considering IPEC initiatives in education, practice, research, and policies.