Faculty Gather for Interprofessional Education Retreat

Over 50 faculty from each of the Academic Health Center’s colleges participated in an interprofessional education retreat Monday, June 16, in the Health Professions Building.

The retreat was aimed at envisioning a model for interprofessional education at the Academic Health Center and developing goals to drive the initiative.

The retreat was kicked off with a national interprofessional education update by Greer Glazer, PhD, UC associate vice president for health affairs and College of Nursing dean.

Attendees then formed groups and participated in a "Marshmallow Tower” exercise to encourage teamwork, innovation and creativity. Lightning round discussions of current initiatives and brainstorming sessions about potential opportunities filled the remainder of the day.

Interprofessional education, often called IPE, has become a priority of the UC Academic Health Center. In recognition of the importance of interprofessional and interdisciplinary education, the Academic Health Center last year named Kelly Lyle as health affairs program officer. Lyle is responsible for establishing linkages between the four health colleges, specifically around the topic of interprofessional education.

Already, the colleges are working closely together on several initiatives, including the local chapter of Open School for Health Professions. Through this program, faculty mentors and Academic Health Center students work at St. Vincent de Paul to operate a free self-management clinic for underserved patients.

Coming Up
A fall retreat is planned to broaden the base of interested faculty and develop connectivity between faculty to further the strategic vision of IPE at the Academic Health Center.

An interprofessional education orientation for Academic Health Center students, tentatively scheduled for Aug. 20, 2014, is also being planned.

For more information about interprofessional education activities, contact Lyle at 513-558-7424 or kelly.lyle@uc.edu.