Resource Center

In 2008, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the IOM launched a two-year initiative to respond to the need to assess and transform the nursing profession. The IOM appointed the Committee on the RWJF Initiative on the Future of Nursing, at the IOM, with the purpose of producing a report that would make recommendations for an action-oriented blueprint for the future of nursing. Through its deliberations, the committee developed four key messages:

Every year, the Global Forum undertakes two workshops whose topics are selected by the more than 55 members of the Forum. It was decided in this first year of the Forum's existence that the workshops should lay the foundation for future work of the Forum and the topic that could best provide this base of understanding was "interprofessional education." The first workshop took place August 29-30, 2012, and the second was on November 29-30, 2012. Both workshops focused on linkages between interprofessional education (IPE) and collaborative practice.

The Center for Interprofessional Education will work collaboratively with AHC schools, colleges, centers, faculty, students and staff to identify, promote, implement and evaluate interprofessional education in a continuum of activities across the educational lifespan. The center will facilitate the creation of a vertically integrated interprofessional curriculum that leads to expected student outcomes.

From the Committee's activities, deliberations and reflections, the Committee has come to understand culture and community as differing world views, values, and languages. A lack of understanding and appreciation for these differing world views, values, and languages result in misunderstood health behaviors and inconsistent health outcomes as graduates from the University of Minnesota Academic Health Center provide health care services to an increasingly diverse population.

This is a study and evaluation of financial models, prepared by Teri Thommes and presented to Barbara Brandt, Assistant Vice President for Education and Beth Nunnally, Associate Vice President and CFO. The objective of this Academic Health Center project is to assimilate the background information necessary to develop an improved model for fairly distributing resources and costs associated with interprofessional, interdisciplinary and cross-collegiate teaching efforts.

Over the past 12 months, a large group of faculty from the AHC colleges/schools of medicine, nursing, pharmacy, dentistry, and public health engaged in deliberate planning efforts to identify and plan intercollegiate primary care education activities and curricular planning.

The AHC Office of Education was created in 2000 with the establishment of the position of Assistant Vice President for Education and the subsequent hiring of Dr. Barbara Brandt to lead efforts in interprofessional education, technology-enhanced learning, community-based education and faculty development in education in the Academic Health Center.

As today's health care delivery system evolves, all levels of professionals are learning that a "team" approach is both efficient and effective for providing quality patient care. However, while new graduates may learn to work as a team after entering the job market, little is currently done to provide students with the skills necessary for interdisciplinary team work during the educational process. The Academic Health Center's Team Development Task Force was created to respond to the need for a well-articulated approach to interdisciplinary health sciences education.

The University of Minnesota Academic Health Center is perfectly positioned to develop interprofessional team education and exemplary practice sites. We have committed leadership, multiple health professional schools under one roof, several initial experiments in providing interprofessional experiences to our students, and a student body that is calling for this kind of training. This report proposes a new way to think about interprofessional education.

Minnesota's 150-year commitment to the health and well-being of its residents and communities has propelled a quality of life that is second to none. The University of Minnesota Academic Health Center and its constituent disciplines have played a vital role over the years in building on this essential value. It is the sole institution in the state capable of steadfastly transforming cutting edge health research into innovative clinical and community applications, professional education, and public outreach.