The Center for Interprofessional Education in the Health Sciences (CIEHS) is moving forward in preparing collaborative-ready healthcare professionals who are able to meet the "Triple Aim," a concept articulated by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.

The Triple Aim focuses on improving the healthcare experience and population health while reducing per capita costs for patients. This evidenced-based patient-centered model of care requires all healthcare professionals to not only possess foundational knowledge, but also skills in teamwork, communication and social determinates of health and health information systems in order to ensure quality and process improvements in healthcare.

The CIEHS, based in the School of Health and Medical Sciences, has embraced this charge by linking interprofessional educational (IPE) experiences and practice. As part of the School's IPE Core Signature Experiences, which are offered to all healthcare professional students, the CIEHS hosted two events last semester:

IPE Town Hall Discussion
First-year professional-level students in Athletic Training, Occupational Therapy, Physician Assistant, Physical Therapy and Speech-Language Pathology participated in the IPE Town Hall Discussion on "Fostering an Inclusive Athletics Environment for a Young Adult with Autism." To set the stage for the event, students watched two video segments developed by the Center.

In part one of the video case, a high school student's parent and the soccer coach discussed the young adult's interest in playing for the soccer team. In part two, the coach and the school's athletic trainer discussed the parent's request and developed a plan to secure feedback from related-services team members, including the OT, PT, SLP and PA professionals involved in her care. Following the videos, the first-year SHMS students, seated throughout the room in interprofessional groups, then observed a live "Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting" among the related-services healthcare team and engaged collaboratively in a follow-up problem-based activity. (Note: SHMS faculty members portrayed the fictitious roles in the video case and the IEP meeting.)

IPE Symposium
Second-year AT, OT, PA and SLP students and third-year PT students participated in the IPE Symposium on "Exploring Interprofessional Teamwork and Collaboration through a Community Partnership." Students practiced their clinical observations skills by watching a patient treatment-session video, which was unfolded by a resident clinician from the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation, an SHMS clinical partner. Students then worked together in interprofessional groups to develop a patient-centered functional goal for the patient in the video and discussed how each team member could support this goal if he or she were working with the patient. Following the group activity, a panel of health professionals offered their clinical perspectives on the primary concerns with the patient and how they would address them individually and as part of an interprofessional team.

Both IPE events brought students together to learn from and with each other alongside their professors and practitioners in the healthcare community. The way forward to meeting the Triple Aim is together, and the CIEHS is taking clear steps to prepare SHMS' health professional students to meet the challenge.

Upcoming programs include:

• November 21 - Interprofessional Perspectives Series: "Impact of Medical Errors and TeamSTEPPS" (SHMS first-year students)
• December 1 - Interprofessional Collaborative Practice and Communication: "A Parental Perspective on the Therapeutic Process - Focus on Autism" (SHMS second-year students and students from the College of Education and Human Services)

Dr. Zipp is Director of the Center for Interprofessional Education in the Health Sciences and a Professor in the Department of Interprofessional Health Sciences and Health Administration.