Extending on Matheson’s (2003) position that education and clinical care initiatives need to encourage collective cognitive responsibility in both patients and health care providers, we proposed design strategies for an interprofessional education program at McMaster University directed at solving patient generated problems related to autoimmune disorders. The innovation

presented in this paper is the design of curriculum for students based on patient concerns and their perspective on their health care needs. The patient data will be synthesized from on-line interactions with one another and with the interprofessional group of students, all of whom will use Knowledge Forum. This idea is premised on a significant body of research evidence concerning the importance of including patients in their health care planning and delivery process. This paper and workshop proposal focus on design strategies for development of a patient driven interprofessional eduction iniative to foster knowledge advances by focusing on one clinical group of disorders, namely autoimmune disorders. Our vision is to embed opportunities for continuous learning and professional development in undergraduate health sciences education programs at McMaster by using patients’ experiences and expertise as the foundation of curriculum development. The overall goal of this design is to engage undergraduates in solving complex clinical problems of primary concern to patients. The collective knowledge advances will benefit not only student learners but patients with a variety of clinical problems.