Interprofessional Education and Practice

The Association of American Medical Colleges (2012) put out this press release last week that falls in line with our discussion topic, especially for those interested in using your DNP role as an educator:  


Six Leading Health Education Associations Unite to Form a New Organization Focused on Interprofessional Education and Practice (click to read more)


Washington, D.C., February 15, 2012—Six national health professions associations have formally joined to create the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC), a new national organization that will focus on better integrating and coordinating the education of nurses, physicians, dentists, pharmacists, public health professionals, and other members of the patient health care team to provide more collaborative and patient-centered care. The founding members include the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, the American Dental Education Association, the Association of American Medical Colleges, and the Association of Schools of Public Health. 

The new IPEC organization will formalize the collaborative work that began three years ago and led to the release of a May 2011 report, “ Core Competencies for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice” (click to read the report).  This seminal document identified individual-level core competencies needed by all health professionals to provide integrated, high-quality care. Disseminated broadly to health professions schools, the report has sparked a wave of implementation efforts by educators looking to prepare clinicians to meet contemporary practice standards.

As a stand-alone entity, the new IPEC will provide leadership around national initiatives to advance interprofessional education (IPE) and share information on IPE best practices and collaborative practice innovations. A growing body of work demonstrates that shared learning experiences among health professions students across disciplines can improve health outcomes. Leading authorities including the World Health Organization, the Institute of Medicine, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation, among others, have all identified IPE as an effective way to enhance the preparation of the health care workforce and improve care delivery. 

In May, IPEC will sponsor its first faculty development institute, “ Building Your Foundation for Interprofessional Education.”  The program will enable faculty from across the health professions to meet with peers in plenary and interactive learning sessions focused on building strong programs for team-based learning. Registration will open on February 22.    

The six IPEC organizations also are founding members of the Institute of Medicine’s Global Forum on Innovation in Health Professional Education, which is set to launch later this month.  Inspired in large part by the 2010 Lancet Commission report, “Health Professionals for a New Century,” this forum will convene stakeholders to illuminate issues in health professions education and support an ongoing, innovative mechanism to incubate and evaluate new ideas.

Interprofessional Education Collaborative (2011). Core competencies for interprofessional collaborative practice. Retrieved from http://www.aacn.nche.edu/education-resources/IPECReport.pdf 

Association of American Medical Colleges (2012). Six leading health education associations unite to form a new organization on interprofessional education and practice. Retrieved from https://www.aamc.org/newsroom/newsreleases/273754/120214.html