It’s graduation season! In my role as associate vice president, I attend several ceremonies each year at the University of Minnesota. I have the opportunity to meet and learn from young health professionals who work every day to transform health care through integrating practice and education. It’s exciting and reassuring to see the next generation of health care leaders walk across the stages.

I’m fortunate to participate in these and many other celebrations of our work. On May 15th, I had the honor of speaking at Rosalind Franklin University’s dedication of an IPE pavilion, in honor of Dr. Dewitt C. “Bud” Baldwin, a pioneer in the field of interprofessional practice and education. 

I titled my presentation in Bud’s name, “Learning from Bud: The Bright Future of IPE.” Anyone who knows me knows about my passion for history, the regard I hold for my mentors, and my fierce belief that we need to understand how what (and who) has come before us shapes what needs to come next. Through listening to tales of Bud’s 60+ year (and counting!) career in IPE, I always have had a reputable guidebook to help inform me what to - and what not to do. Bud’s storied experiences are a prime example of how the past presents the future, especially in the health sciences.

At “Bud’s event,” I was also inspired by Dr. Madeline “Mattie” Schmitt’s presentation on her new work on power in interprofessional hierarchies, building upon her decades’ long research on teamwork.  As she says, “The more things change; the more they say the same.”

All three of us – Bud, Mattie, and myself – remember the time when IPE first was introduced in the United States in the 1970s. We remember the passion; we remember being challenged by the ebbs and flows team-based healthcare. I, for one, am grateful that we now work in more optimistic times. At Rosalind Franklin University, I declared that the Future of IPE is bright. Bud’s career, and Mattie’s wisdom exemplify this.

Shortly after returning home, my colleague Dr. Debra DeBruin, Director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Bioethics, forwarded me this email from a University of Virginia nursing student:

“I graduated today from the UVA School of Nursing, alongside students from the School of Medicine.  I just wanted to reach out and say how touched we were that when our degrees were conferred, the students in the medical school graduating class stood up for us.  We were incredibly honored to see that from our fellow students, and now colleagues.  Considering all that UVA does to promote interprofessional education and better understanding of each other's professions, it was wonderful to see. Please send forward a huge "thank-you" from the School of Nursing Class of 2014!”

Bright future.  Real change.  Inspired.