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How do I get certified in IPE?

Academic Health Centers have been called to develop a strategic plan to integrate student learning across colleges to better prepare our future workforce to practice, teach, and research together. Experienced interprofessional faculty facilitators are needed to provide diverse perspectives and add creativity and quality in the design and implementation of the IPE student curriculum. To do this, a bank of engaged faculty trained to design and/or facilitate these IPE learning events is needed. A UAMS IPE Certification process was created to develop this bank of engaged and trained faculty facilitators.

The IPE 101 seminar is the first step in the UAMS IPE Certification process. This one-hour didactic provides an overview of the IPE movement, and the need for collaborative skills that facilitate team-based endeavors in clinical, educational, and research settings in which our diverse faculty work.

The second step of the UAMS IPE Certification process is a training workshop (201E: Facilitator Skills and IPE Event Design) for faculty to build their design and facilitation skills for IPE events through active learning experiences.

The last step is co-leading an IPE student or faculty event with an experienced co-facilitator (301E: Facilitated Shadow and/or Event Co-Lead).

Make sure to utilize all the information on our Faculty Development Workshop page here!

Check out our full facilitator sign-up for a list of ALL the student events we do.
If you see an event on this list that doesn’t have a 301E associated with it, please send us an email and we will work with you to get you trained.

Continuing education credits for most professions is available for all three events. This observation will lead to quantitative and qualitative structured, confidential feedback.

Successful completion of this 3-step process earns a certificate stating the individual is a UAMS IPE Facilitator who is capable of facilitating that type of IPE event independently. Certification as an IPE Master Facilitator can also be obtained by completing this process for three different types of events.

Value of certification is enhanced by the UAMS Deans’ support from all 5 Colleges and the Graduate School. The Deans instructed the promotion and tenure committees at all colleges of this value during their deliberations, as well as the value of interprofessional or interdisciplinary work in general.

The opportunity for certification is advertised across colleges at live events as well as via emailed faculty development invitations.

If faculty are already involved in facilitating IPE student or faculty events on campus, they may wish to skip the training process and apply for certification via our Exemption Policy.

UAMS Ahead of the curve: Interprofessional leaders from UAMS attend Collaborating Across Borders

The Office of Interprofessional Education sponsored a team of seven leaders from UAMS to attend the Collaborating Across Borders Conference (CAB-V) in Roanoke, VA from September 29^th – October 2nd. CAB-V is the fifth joint conference that links the United States and Canada around the key themes of interprofessional education and collaborative practice. CAB-V focused on interprofessional education, practice, leadership and policy in a North American context. The conference featured best practices, showcased evidence-based outcomes, and provided a venue for scholarly dialogue and productive networking. The conference theme, The Interprofessional Journey: Advancing Integration and Impact, reflected on the importance of these key concepts as they play a role in the preparation of future health professionals.

The three-fold purpose of sending such a large team from UAMS to CAB-V was met and were as follows: (1) systematically identify specific innovations learned at CAB-V to implement at UAMS; (2) benchmark the current progress of the Office of IPE efforts against National exemplars; and (3) expand the network of potential collaborative relationships with additional Universities.

Each UAMS team member has shared their reflections below on how attending CAB-V impacted them specifically.

The Collaborating across borders conference was inspiring. It is amazing to see the IPE movement includes so many Academic health Centers with health care providers and faculty committed to patient centered care.
Pearl McElfish, Office of IPE Scholarship & Research Chair, Associate Professor, UAMS College of Medicine, Director Office Community Health and Research

CAB-V has provided an opportunity to foster IPE/IPC planning through networking with colleagues from an array of backgrounds unlike any other meeting I’ve experienced. This meeting has far exceeded my expectations. We realized that our Triple Aim Curricular framework at UAMS is consistent with National exemplars, and we returned with countless ideas to innovate within our approved structure.
Dr. Kathryn Neill, Office of IPE Curriculum Evaluation & Implementation Team Chair, Interim Dean, College of Pharmacy

The opportunity to interact with partners like George Thibault, MD of The Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation was incredible! I was so impressed with the Foundation’s depth of investment in the “Triple Aim.” Financial support is just the tip of the iceberg, the Macy Foundation is a strategic advocate and international leader in achieving better patient outcomes, at the lowest cost while improving health for all of us. It was vital for UAMS to be at the table for CAB-V.
Brigitte Grant, Office of IPE Development Team Chair, Associate Vice Chancellor for Development

After seeing what other schools are doing with IPE, I get excited about the innovative things we are doing and plan to do at UAMS. We are in a great place and I look forward to sharing what our school is doing at future CAB conferences. During this conference, I learned just how exciting and important our work in IPE is to students, faculty, and patients. IPE is making a difference in healthcare and I am thankful to be a part of the movement at UAMS.
Ashley Castleberry, Office of IPE Faculty Development Team Alternate Chair, Director of Assessment College of Pharmacy

I understand from having been in the private side of rural care delivery that the system is strained and non-sustainable. With my exposure to IPE through CAB-V, I see potential solutions to the problem of delivering complex care to the citizens of our state utilizing the skill sets of the entire team. No Doctor is an island!
Mark Jansen, Office of IPE Collaborative Practice Alternate Chair, Primary Medical Director for the Center for Healthcare Enhancement and Development

As a communications professional, a look through the lens of educators and health care professionals offers an understanding of where innovative digital communications can help bridge the gap between professions and heighten engagement in our quest for health care transformation. IPE is the model, but effective communication is the tool needed to lead the way. CAB was vital for IPE “Team” UAMS, it will enable us to continue to launch IPE forward in creative and innovative ways.
Christina Trimble, Office of IPE Program Manager

Once again I remain humbled. Our team at UAMS is simply amazing! For three straight days, our team was creating new collaborations, collecting ideas to strengthen IPE at UAMS, and reflecting how far ahead of the innovation curve we are at UAMS. This is simply one more of many experiences affirming that the future of UAMS is very, very bright.
Lee Wilbur, Office of IPE Director

Checkout CABV

Progress is Sprouting up for the Interprofessional Fresh Food Coalition

The Interprofessional Fresh Food Coalition began in the spring of 2015, when a group of students started bringing fresh produce to the patients at the 12th Street Health and Wellness Center. On six different clinic nights over the summer of 2015, 12th Street patients were able to take a bag of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, cabbage and more home with them after receiving medical care at the Center. The Central Arkansas Library System generously donated the produce from their teaching garden at the Children’s Library. Jon Bierman, the gardener at the Children’s Library, has supplied more than just vegetables — he also has been a great source of expertise, encouragement and enthusiasm for IFFC students.

Also during the spring of 2015, IFFC students received a grant from the UAMS College of Pharmacy’s Women’s Giving Circle. The $500 grant paid for building supplies for a garden box on campus. Cheri Goforth, the UAMS Director of Campus Life and Student Support Services, and Penny Talbert, the UAMS Grounds Manager, graciously allowed IFFC to locate their garden on the south side of the South Dorm.

In late July and early August, student volunteers built the 30′ x 4′ x 2′ box and filled it with soil. In late August, with seeds supplied by Jon at CALS, student volunteers planted a fall garden. Fall crops at the UAMS garden include carrots, kale, collard greens, mustard greens, lettuce, radishes, cilantro, spinach, and basil.

Melissa Clark, Pharm.D., MPH, is the IFFC faculty adviser. Any student can join the IFFC by signing up at this link:

https://www.volgistics.com/ex/portal.dll/ap?ap=1873403773

If you are interested in learning more about the IFFC, you can contact Erin Puryear at epuryear@uams.edu.

12th Street Health & Wellness Center Student Leadership holds Women’s Specialty Clinic

The student leadership of the 12th Street Health & Wellness Center is pleased to announce our most recent Specialty Clinic event. On Thursday, September 10, 2015, the volunteer staff at 12th Street HWC held a Women’s Health specialty clinic. Patients were offered pelvic exams, Pap smears, and breast exams. Patients at the Women’s Health clinic were also offered the opportunity to schedule a free mammogram through the UAMS MammoVan.

This is the first of four women’s health clinics to be held this academic year as part of the 12^th Street Women’s Health Initiative (WHI). The WHI seeks to expand basic women’s health services at 12^th Street, including STD testing, pelvic examinations, Pap smears, HPV testing, thyroid testing, breast examination, patient education on breast self-exams, and mammograms.

The WHI is a two-year plan created by the student leadership of 12^th Street. The two year plan is as follows:

WHI Year 1 Goals, Academic Year 2015-16:
- Hold quarterly Women’s Health Nights at 12^th Street, during which pelvic examinations, Pap smears, and breast exams are available
- Have mammograms available at 12^th Street at least twice via the UAMS Mobile MammoVan, with a goal of 40 mammograms performed
- Investigate offering women’s health services as part of regular clinic nights, including budgeting,precepting, cytopathology, and referrals for women who need advanced treatment
WHI Year 2 Goals, Academic Year 2016-17:
- Based on feasibility as assessed during Year 1, offer women’s health services as often as is practicable for each service;
- Host the UAMS MammoVan at least four times, with a goal of 80 mammograms performed
- Create preceptor relationships, institutional partnerships, and funding sources that will allow the WHI to continue into 2018 and beyond

Students Receive Interactive Welcome to Interprofessional Education

Shortly after classes began for the fall 2015 semester at UAMS, the Office of Interprofessional Education hosted 4 workshops for over 750 of the incoming students to introduce them to interprofessional education.

The new students, from all five UAMS colleges and the graduate school, received a first exposure to a focus on collaboration across professions. This is so important that it is now a graduation requirement for incoming students.

The initial workshop, which included multiple Ted-style talks and team-based activities, offered the opportunity for students to learn how to work collaboratively in teams. Team-based collaboration is essential for an outcome-focused transformation of health care.

Lee Wilbur, M.D., professor and vice chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine in the UAMS College of Medicine and director of the Office of Interprofessional Education, asserts that collaboration in health care is critical. Collaboration is necessary regardless of profession and whether it’s at the patient’s bedside, in the lab or in the classroom.

“The workshop allowed these new UAMS students to learn from, about, and with one another so that they model a culture of collaboration very early in their education,” Wilbur said. “Improving collaboration among health care professionals starts with interprofessional education and benefits our patients, their families and the communities we serve by providing the highest quality care possible.”

The workshop was phase one of a three-phase curriculum that connects interprofessional education to the Triple Aim — improving the patient experience, improving the health of the population and decreasing the cost of care. Each college has a road map for completing the curriculum and can choose the timing and implementation for students.

Wilbur said the curriculum will first expose students to the concepts of interprofessional care — its benefits and the processes involved. As students continue to learn together and expand their interprofessional understanding, they will participate in activities that promote stronger collaboration.

Interprofessional Education teams Improve Patient and Family Care through Medical Error Simulation

Imagine a medical, pharmacy, health professions, nursing and public health student walking into an exam room together and communicating with a patient’s family member about a medical error that has just occurred.

On May 6, over 70 learners from UAMS’ six colleges (medicine, pharmacy, nursing, public health, health professions and the graduate school) participated in the IPE pilot “Error Disclosure Simulation Event” which is a planned component of the IMMERSION phase for intermediate learners as part of the Interprofessional Education curriculum going into effect, at UAMS in the fall 2015.

In this event, interprofessional teams must disclose an error that has occurred. Teams work collaboratively and talk about their action plan, discuss their role and determine how they will tell the family member as a team about the error and how the patient was harmed. A standardized patient plays the role of a family member.

Each learner has a different approach and perspective to the case provided. Simulations help students understand how to work with other health providers in different fields and how to ask questions outside of their profession.

All teams returned to participate in a large group debriefing where two faculty facilitators led the learners and standardized patients through a structured discussion to highlight the importance of the interprofessional team as a model to conduct difficult conversations that are applicable to all professions. Evaluations indicate that the learners enjoyed the event and recognize that this experience will positively affect their future practice.

IPE Receives $150,000 from Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Blue & You Foundation to Expand Program

Feb. 9, 2015 |The UAMS Office of IPE announced a grant totaling $150,000 from Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield and its Blue & You Foundation for a Healthier Arkansas. The grants will expand interprofessional education and collaborative practice for students at UAMS.

The grant to the UAMS Office of Interprofessional Education will fund development of a curriculum for interprofessional education, which occurs when students from two or more professions learn from, about and with one another to improve health outcomes. This fall the curriculum will become a graduation requirement for students in all UAMS colleges (Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Public Health and the Graduate School) that will better prepare graduates to deliver care as part of a collaborative health care team.

“The Blue & You Foundation is pleased to continue its support of programs at UAMS that will have a direct impact on making Arkansas communities healthier,” said Patrick O’Sullivan, executive director of the Blue & You Foundation.

Founded in 1948, Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, is the largest health insurer in Arkansas. Arkansas Blue Cross and its affiliates have more than 2,500 employees.

Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield established the Blue & You Foundation in 2001 as a charitable foundation to promote better health in Arkansas. The Blue & You Foundation awards grants annually to nonprofit or governmental organizations and programs that positively affect the health of Arkansans.