On April 5th, UB’s School of Public Health and Health Professions (SPHHP) hosted a day of events with Glen E. Gresham Visiting Professor Ivy Oandasan. Ivy engaged in a talk about “Being on the Cutting Edge – Advancing Interprofessional Education for Quality Care.” Without a doubt, she captivated the audience of 160 faculty, students and guests with her knowledge and enthusiasm about the future of interprofessional education and care. We were privileged to have a distinguished guest in the audience – Dr. Madeline Schmitt, Professor Emerita at the University of Rochester, co-author of WHO’s 2010 Framework for Action in Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice, Chair (2010 – 2011) of the expert panel that produced national Core Competencies for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice, and Editor Emerita of the Journal of Interprofessional Care.

Following a dialogue with faculty, and a very robust conversation with students from occupational therapy, physical therapy and social work whom she called “the future,” Ivy shared messages through her capstone presentation that resonated well. She pointed out that “many patient complaints stem from miscommunication among professionals” and “interprofessional care, a.k.a. ‘teamwork,’ improves patient outcomes.” She observed that “in healthcare, people are trying to talk to each other . . . but are they succeeding? Creating a synergistic care plan based on the priorities of a patient – that’s interprofessional care.” Her points beg the question – how do you lead a culture shift toward interprofessional care? Stated eloquently by Ivy, “you need leaders to share a vision, structures to enable collaboration and people to make it happen.”

“Education and training should prepare future professionals for interprofessional collaboration,” she notes. After all, how can practitioners be expected to practice interprofessionally if they haven’t been trained that way? When asked how to add interprofessional education into the already-full curricula of each profession, Ivy stated that “it’s about weaving interprofessional competencies into uniprofessional curricula. It’s not about doing more, it’s about doing better.” Ivy believes that IPE is lifelong, and we could not agree more.

One of the many pivotal points from Ivy’s presentation is that “educators can not do it alone, academia must partner with the practice community.” UB’s Office of IPE is taking this to heart and engaging community organizations in the discussion, the training and education, and the cultural shift towards interprofessional care. It will take time and patience, but the groundswell has begun.

Click here to view Ivy’s full presentation.

Share your experiences in delivering collaborative care. Are healthcare professionals succeeding in talking to each other? If so, how are they doing it?

This guest blog was written by Paul Wietig, Assistant Vice President for Interprofessional Education, Academic Health Center, University at Buffalo.