Interprofessional education (IPE) and clinical training at UMN is intended to develop specific competencies in our graduates, as they enter the health care workforce, join teams, and contribute to team-based care of individuals, families, and communities. The Office of Academic Clinical Affairs and the Provost Office have complementary authority and responsibility for advancing effective health sciences’ interprofessional education. Through its interprofessional education and clinical training efforts, the University of Minnesota is preparing students to develop the competencies needed for success in interprofessional collaborative practice. For many years the UMN IPE efforts have been led by Director Brian Sick, and for a few years, the Co-Director role has been unfilled; filling this gap will contribute leadership and energy needed to advance critical interprofessional education priorities with our clinical partners across Minnesota.
As Co-Directors of the UMN Interprofessional Education team, Drs. Friedrich and North will:
- Provide joint leadership for the 1Health team, with Director Brian Sick, MD, with guidance and oversight from AVP Carolyn Porta, PhD, Office of Academic Clinical Affairs, and AVP Trevor Ames, DVM, Provost Office
- Provide leadership for experiential interprofessional clinical training priorities
- Strengthen and expand health care system clinical training site partnerships across Minnesota
- Implement, track, and evaluate new interprofessional clinical training models
- Disseminate IPE clinical training best practices and outcomes, linking experiential training to interprofessional competency development, and to patient and community outcomes
Dr.Friedrich is a clinical professor and coordinator of the pediatric nurse practitioner (PNP)/pediatric clinical nurse specialist specialties in the School of Nursing. Her innovative teaching draws on years of experience as a primary care PNP and interprofessional team member. She engages students using active learning strategies focused on development of critical reasoning skills and clinical competency. She practices and precepts students in an interprofessional Federally Qualified Health Center that serves un- and under-insured children and families in Anoka County. She also persuasively advocates for interprofessional education. As a member of the 1Health team, she has been instrumental in co-leading efforts to create rich, interactive interprofessional teaching and learning strategies for the University’s health sciences students. Her novel Escape Room experiences are licensed and have been widely disseminated nationally and internationally to promote interprofessional learning.
Dr. North serves as the director of educational innovation and evaluation and assistant professor in the Division of Physical Therapy in the Medical School. Her passion for the development and assessment of innovative pedagogy bridging the didactic and clinical learning environments has led to novel leadership roles focused on teaching, scholarship, and service across these realms, with achievements and scholarly dissemination focused primarily on IPE, academic-clinical partnerships, and data-informed curricular design and assessment. She has collaboratively developed and implemented IPE experiential opportunities during full-time student placements, an efficient clinical placement framework promoting relationships with key clinical preceptors, and simulated didactic IPE activities focused on competency development. She has been a member of the 1Health interprofessional education leadership team and is currently serving as the curriculum chair for the Division of Physical Therapy. She is pursuing her PhD in Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development in Evaluation Studies. Additional areas of professional interest include establishment and assessment of learner competency, community-based programming, clinical reasoning, and diversity in the health professions.
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