Pictured above are some of the faculty participating in the College of Health Sciences'
Interprofessional Education (IPE) Workshop this year. L-r: Carol Kobulnicky (Pharmacy),
Janelle Krueger (Pharmacy), Kevin Murray (Medical Education), Cheri Bellamy (Nursing),
and Mary Anne Purtzer (Nursing)
Why IPE is Important / What UW Health Sciences is doing about it / Events scheduled Spring 2016
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Why is Interprofessional Education important? The answer is basic: to improve quality of care. The College of Health Sciences Interprofessional Education web page defines Interprofessional Education by citing the Centre For The Advancement Of Interprofessional Education (CAIPE) definition: "Interprofessional Education occurs when two or more professions learn with, from and about each other to improve collaboration and the quality of care." (CAIPE 2002)
Interprofessional Education has been a goal for the college for several years, and was paramount in the ideation behind the plans for the existent building when renovated back in 2003. Building planners attempted to bring the different components of the College of Health Sciences under one roof so that faculty and students could better communicate with one another. The only discipline not included in the building was and is Kinesiology and Health, since their unit needs to house a swimming pool (located in the Corbett Building in the east part of campus).
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Carol Kobulnicky, Director |
College of Health Sciences taking bolder steps
The College has taken bolder steps in the last few years toward making Interprofessional Education more of a reality than a goal, appointing an Interprofessional Education Committee and Pharmacy's Carol Kobulnicky, Ph.D., R.Ph. as Director of Interprofessional Education.
Retreat:
In January Kobulnicky led the 3rd Annual CHS Interprofessional Education Retreat (pictured
above). "New and continuing initiatives are going to result from this retreat, says
Kobulnicky, "including the use of Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Open
School Chapter Modules and the UW ECHO superhub for IPE."
Nursing Dean Mary Burman summarizes the retreat from a nursing standpoint: "Nursing was well-represented with really good presentations about the IPE work in nursing by faculty Cheri Bellamy (collaborating with pharmacy on an IPE module), Mary Anne Purtzer (transformative learning, IPE), and Ann Marie Hart (IHI Open School Chapter--which is very interprofessional)."
Face-to-face required IPE event for students:
Last month, a face-to-face IPE required event was held involving nursing, pharmacy,
speech/hearing/language and dietetics students. Students discussed roles and responsibilities
within the context of a culturally-focused patient care case in interprofessional
teams followed by debriefing with members of the IPE Faculty Team. The assignment
also contained important pre-team work and post-team work written reflection. "This
IPE work began years ago," says Kobulnicky, "and has evolved into what we believe
is a truly effective approach to introducing these topics to students."
Co-curricular Event
Also in February a new co-curricular (outside of class) event took place: The End-of-Life:
A Vital Healthcare Discussion. The event was planned and implemented by a team of
quality specialists from the Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County together with
student leaders of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement Open School Chapter and
numerous faculty from multiple CHS disciplines.
More spring 2016 events follow:
A face-to-face geriatric case IPE assignment (3rd year) will continue among BSN (junior) and PharmD (2nd year) students.
A new asynchronous online discussion regarding leadership and patient safety will take place with PharmD (3rd year) students and RN-to-BSN students.
April 28, 2016 – A new face-to-face IPE required event in scheduled: Prescription Opioid Abuse IPE Activity. The event will involve WWAMI medical, Doctor of Nursing Practice, and PharmD students. For two hours students will meet in interprofessional teams to work through a patient case and then discuss barriers and facilitators of interprofessional communication and effective teamwork within this context.
Many other IPE initiatives are underway—look for updates again this time next year!
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Updated 3/2/2016
