PULPIT Project Update: Maastricht Transnational Meeting

PULPIT Project Update: Maastricht Transnational Meeting

In January, Darren Lauscher and Cathy Kline travelled to the Netherlands to attend a transnational meeting of the PULPIT consortium at the University of Maastricht. The meeting marked the start of the final year of the 3-year PULPIT project.

PULPIT is an international collaboration across five countries (Canada, Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia) to promote patient involvement in interprofessional education. It is the first multi-center European collaboration of its kind to develop and test the active involvement of patients in the early stages of training.

Consortium members prepared to pilot the PULPIT module which includes one online preparatory session and three in-person meetings with a patient who is an expert by experience in living with a chronic health condition. The module is designed to give students an opportunity to take a deep-dive into the lived experience of a patient, including the physical, mental, and social impacts of living with an illness.

Cathy also presented the history of UBC’s Patient & Community Partnership for Education and Darren shared his experiences as Health Mentor on a patient panel. Together with colleagues from Maastricht University’s Patient as a Person program they shared best practices and lessons learned from involving patients in health professional education in their different contexts with colleagues who will be piloting the PULPIT program in the coming months.

“During my time in Maastricht, I gained insights that would not have emerged through a screen. Face-to-face conversations allowed for deeper dialogue, collaborative problem-solving, and the exchange of ideas that might otherwise remain unexplored. The continued leadership of UBC in mentoring partners is significant, particularly as institutions adapt the models to meet their unique needs,” said Darren.

The group also began planning the final PULPIT conference to be held in Lisbon in October. Call for abstracts coming soon!

Save the Date!

The Missing Voices in Healthcare Education
School of Nursing, University of Lisbon
October 29-30, 2026