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This paper is the last in a series of three manuscripts published in the TQR journal over the past few years. This work is part of a larger program of research that has been carried out by a team of researchers detailing various aspects of a three year action research project carried out from 2005 and 2008. This particular paper addresses issues of quality in action research by critiquing our research against five interdependent principles and criteria raised in the literature specifically by Davison, Martinson and Kock which was published in 2004. Our action research project aimed to facilitate interprofessional education for health care learners in the Faculty of Health Sciences at a Canadian University. (Contains 1 table and 1 footnote.)

The Canadian government supports the transformation of education for health care providers based on the recognized need for an inter-professional collaborative approach to care. This first paper in a series of papers demonstrates the credibility of an action research approach for the promotion and understanding of inter-professional education (IPE). Located in the critical paradigm, this action research project is concerned with creating an educational environment that enhances the ability of learners and educators to provide patient-centred care through inter-professional collaboration. The QUIPPED project has invited various stakeholders (faculty and learners from various disciplines, consumers of health care, university administration and clinicians) to participate in the collaborative transformation of the educational culture and the co-creation of a shared knowledge for IPE. (Contains 3 figures.)

Action research in the critical paradigm involves a process of continual refection in and on action including the research process itself. In the second in a series of several papers we report on the day-to-day management of the QUIPPED project. The aim was to facilitate patient centred care through inter-professional collaboration with health care learners at a Canadian university. Reflections of the continuum from early conceptualization of the project in 2004 through to lessons learned in 2008 are described. Key components include the importance of team development, overall coordination, and attention to logistical and structural issues are explored. The importance of learner driven initiatives as well as the need to prepare faculty for inter-professional teaching cannot be emphasized enough. (Contains 2 figures.)