The community moderator program is an initiative that gives users of the Resource Exchange 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.

With more than 20 years of practice expertise in pediatric and orthopedic/sports medicine, Jody Frost, PT, DPT, PhD, FNAP, credits her involvement on projects with multiple health professions for showing her the potential positive outcomes of collaboration.

Now as the lead academic affairs specialist and program director of the Education Leadership Institute Fellowship at the American Physical Therapy Association – an American Board of Physical Therapy Residency and Fellowship Education (ABPTRFE) accredited program – she uses those experiences to inform physical therapist education and training initiatives.

Her perspective as educator, researcher and practitioner, has made Dr. Frost a sought after speaker on many topics, including academic and clinical education, professionalism, mentoring and faculty development. As a community moderator, she is available to answer your questions about interprofessional practice and education (IPE) and help make connections between individuals with similar interests. Learn more about Jody below!

Q:  How did you get started in interprofessional education and collaborative practice?

JF:  It began in 1975 in pediatric physical therapy, where physical therapists functioned in interdisciplinary practice teams with providers required to provide care to the child and family/caregivers. My next involvement was with interdisciplinary team teaching at an academic institution with several courses in the physical therapist curriculum being co-taught with faculty from other professions. Finally, opportunities to be involved in collaborative projects involving multiple health profession associations helped me to see the positive outcomes that can be achieved through collaboration as related to education, practice, research and advocacy.

Q:  What inspires you about this work?

JF: The potential for bridging interprofessional education and collaborative practice, through well-coordinated and effective team-based care to achieve optimal outcomes for patients and their families, is what gives me the greatest hope. Having personally experienced the health care system without collaborative practice as a caregiver, the potential to elevate this system in the future is energizing!

Q:  What are your primary areas of interest?

JF: They are currently in the areas of interprofessional assessment, interprofessional education models and their relationship to collaborative practice models, interprofessional professionalism and interprofessional research methods.

Q:  What are some interesting projects you're working on now or have planned for the future?

JF: For the past seven years, the Interprofessional Professionalism Collaborative (IPC) has been working on an Interprofessional Professionalism Assessment (IPA). The past two years have involved pilot testing with multiple academic institutions, a variety of health professions and with preceptors from a wide variety of clinical settings across the U.S. This pilot study will be ending in 2015 and the results will be analyzed in preparation for future publications.

Q:  Anything additional to share about the community moderator program, the National Center or IPE?

JF: The National Center provides a plethora of resources, opportunities for networking and ongoing discussion that has made dialogue about IPE much easier and readily available. There are opportunities to access other colleagues seeking to collaborate, share resources and information, review a myriad of assessments, seek the expertise of others and to learn lessons from others who may have traveled parallel pathways. The only way to advance IPE is through communication, asking questions and learning new ways of doing this work together. It is an honor to be part of the community moderator program!

Do you think Jody could help answer your IPE-related questions?  Visit her National Center profile to view her recent contributions and to send her an email.