In January, the National Center launched the “community moderator” program, an initiative that gives users of the Resource Exchange and Online Community more opportunities to interact with each other – and recognized leaders in interprofessional practice education. Each month we’ll feature a different community moderator to help users determine the best contact for specific questions and topics.

Madeline “Mattie” Schmitt, PhD, RN, FAAN, FNAP, is a retired nurse-sociologist who’s been passionate about interprofessional education and collaborative practice since the 1970s. Through her professional and volunteer appointments, Mattie has developed a deep knowledge of the history of interprofessional practice and education (IPE) and putting research into action.

Q:  How did you get started in interprofessional education and collaborative practice?
MS: In my undergraduate nursing clinical [clinic] experience, when I was invited by an attending physician to join him in collaboratively providing care to a teenage diabetic. My nursing clinical faculty member facilitated the involvement and both read a reflective paper I wrote about the experience.

Q:  What inspires you about this work?
MS: The idea of improving care and health through working together within and across professions and with those who receive our care and caring approaches. Also, the shared goals, tolerance, understanding and good will of those I work with about IPE and interprofessional collaboration (IPC).

Q:  What are your primary areas of interest?
MS: I started with research interest and activities focused on demonstrating outcomes related to better interprofessional collaboration – specifically moving on from ideology. This led to an interest in developing measurement tools and putting research into practice. I also am interested in the history of IPE and IPC because I have been a part of it and learning from history matters. I am also interested in the causes of, and resolution of, conflict in interprofessional relationships.

Q:  What are some interesting projects you're working on now or have planned for the future?
MS: Although I am retired, I am working as a formal or informal consultant to many interesting interprofessional (IP) endeavors both in education and practice. I am involved in several writing projects related to my research involvement with others and related to my ongoing IP interests. Because I chaired the Core Competencies for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice Expert Panel and was deeply involved with the content of that report, I am interested in all the work in education and practice that is emanating from that content.

Q:  Anything additional to share about the community moderator program, the National Center or IPE?
MS:  It was a privilege to contribute to the early efforts that led to the National Center’s existence. IPE is finally being institutionalized by the efforts of so many engaged people focused on doing what they know to do best in so many areas where this needs to be infused.

I am also pleased to see the emphasis on research, as I realized early on that data were critical to institutionalization efforts. I am grateful for the early mentorship of Dr. DeWitt Baldwin, Jr., who saw the promise of, and need for, our research and was – and still is – practicing what he preaches.

The community moderator program is an opportunity for me to contribute to building the web of connections and networking among those interested in this area. Connecting people is a good and rewarding activity for this stage of my life that grows from what I have done in IPE and IPC over time.

Have a question for Mattie? Connect through her National Center profile.