Steering Committee

The IPE Steering Committee, composed of 18 faculty representatives from the five Health Science Colleges and Hardin Library for the Health Sciences, was established by the Health Science Policy Council (HSPC) in October 2012 to develop a coordinated plan for interprofessional education. Steering Committee responsibilities include:

• Serving as designated liaisons to their respective academic community for the IPE initiative
• Identifying feasible goals, strategies and timelines, as well as methods that evaluate achievement of goals and progress
• Ensuring that the initiative's scope aligns with accreditation requirements of HSC colleges
• Establishing a baseline inventory of existing UI IPE courses, faculty and learning resources
• Assessing and creating a faculty development plan that responds to needs for teaching IPE
• Identifying and recommending future funding sources that will assure sustainability
• Assisting with integration of IPE into the existing curriculum
• Seeking and leveraging new opportunities that may occur as IPE is  integrated across UI
• Recommending members for and overseeing subcommittees as needed
• Contributing to periodic reports to the Health Science Policy Council

Using the four competency domains for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice*, the Steering Committee produced a comprehensive, focused framework and strategic plan in 2013 for the Health Science Colleges. Four IPE strategic goals focused on key program elements:

1. Competency-based IPE curricula and learning opportunities
2. Faculty development
3. Student-led engagement and leadership in IPE
4. Logistics and sustainability of a comprehensive IPE Program

The IPE Strategic Plan is designed to integrate existing UI IPE resources, implement a coordinated IPE curriculum, create a sustainable IPE learning infrastructure and environment, and engage health profession students in the development and implementation of IPE. There has been substantial, sustained progress in implementing our IPE plan, particularly the establishment in 2014 of a 3-semester Interprofessional Skills and Team Based Healthcare course, which expects to enroll over 600 health profession students in fall 2017. Additionally, Students for Interprofessional Education (SIPE) was organized in response to a desire for student-driven learning. There also has been growing faculty interest in IPE teaching skills and and practice competencies, but more needs to be accomplished. In January 2016, the HSPC asked the Steering Committee to develop a plan for interprofessional clinical and community-based practice opportunities. Also, professional accrediting entities, community health organizations, and clinical practices are all signaling expectations for health professionals who are interprofessionally prepared to deliver team-based, patient-centered, safe, and cost-effective care and improved population health outcomes. The IPE Steering Committee currently faces two important challenges to the full development and sustainability of a comprehensive IPE Program, i.e., the lack of 1) dedicated resources and 2) attention to tenure and promotion expectations and post-tenure effort allocation that validate faculty efforts in IPE teaching, practice and research. Options are being explored.

*From the 2011 IPEC Expert Panel’s Core Competencies for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice which provides a formal, common definition of Interprofessional Education and Practice.