To practice in today’s high-performing health care teams, our students must learn in teams.
Across our health professional schools and programs, students participate in interprofessional learning opportunities and experiences that empower them to transition quickly to the working world and into the clinical environment.
“We have a strong history of interprofessional education at the University of Minnesota,” says Sara North, PT, DPT, PhD, M.Ed., FNAP, co-director of the Center for Interprofessional Health. “We have deliberately designed an interprofessional education curriculum for health professions students, addressing the foundational component of the interprofessional learning trajectory that spans training into practice. Students move through three distinct phases from classroom to experiential, and that longitudinal nature is a very pivotal part of our curriculum.”
A learning continuum
The three phase curriculum includes:
- Phase I: Orientation to Interprofessional Education (IPE)
Provides health professional students with an introduction to IPE and offers an opportunity to learn with, from, and about one another. - Phase II: Necessary Skills
Provides curricular options—including simulations, classroom activities and experiential opportunities—that build upon interprofessional competencies and promotes development of interprofessional teamwork, communication and collaboration skills. - Phase III: Expertise in Practice
Applies the interprofessional skills and competencies required in a clinical practice or community setting.
“We work with each academic program to decide the ways in which it makes the most sense for their learners to participate to hopefully not just have one activity or event that they attend, but to have an intentional design for how their learners make their way through interprofessional training in their program,” says North. “It has to feel relevant for the learners to see themselves applying those skills in practice.”
"Together" is integral to IPE
“Each discipline brings a different perspective and expertise, and when those perspectives come together, patient care becomes more comprehensive. These IPE experiences reinforce that healthcare works best when professionals communicate openly and work together toward shared goals,” says medical student Alec Thingvold.
The impact of our innovations in IPE goes beyond our University of Minnesota health professional learners. Our Center for Interprofessional Health faculty and staff also regularly share their experiences and knowledge with others nationally and internationally on topics ranging from addressing gaps in IPE faculty development to exploring similarities and differences in interprofessional competency attainment outcomes among various health professions students.
“I’m proud of the work we have done to transform the future of learning for our health professional students,” says North. “Together, we are preparing the next generation as a collaborative practice-ready workforce serving Minnesota and beyond.”
Other News
