Dentistry, Other Health Care Units Participating

Ann Arbor, MI — June 26, 2012 — A new approach to educating students in dentistry, medicine, public health, nursing, pharmacy, social work, and other health care professions is starting to take shape at the University of Michigan. 

Since the beginning of the year, administrators and faculty with the School of Dentistry and other units on campus have been collaborating on the new approach that encourages them to rethink the traditional “silo” method of education and patient care and, instead, develop programs that involve multiple health care disciplines.

Leaders from five U-M schools and colleges recently participated in the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) Institute in Herndon, Virginia, to discuss these trends and how health profession educators can prepare future clinicians for team-based patient care.  The U-M interprofessional team who attended the conference included representatives from the Schools and Colleges of Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, and Social Work.  This group represented a larger working group from U-M that also includes representatives from Public Health and Kinesiology.

Dr. Carol Anne Murdoch-Kinch, associate dean for Academic Affairs and clinical professor of dentistry, says “interprofessional education and practice have improved patient care outcomes.  Health care professionals who can work effectively in teams in an interprofessional environment will be in high demand by employers.”  She adds that interprofessional education “is also an expectation of accrediting bodies of these professional schools.”

Besides Murdoch-Kinch, other leaders from the five U-M schools and colleges who participated were:

• Bonnie Hagerty, associate dean and associate professor of nursing, School of Nursing.
• Maya Hammoud, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology and associate professor of medical education, Medical School.
• Michael Spencer, associate dean and professor of social work, School of Social Work.
• Bruce Mueller, associate dean for academic affairs and professor of pharmacy, College of Pharmacy.

IPEC, a partnership of six professional education associations, is working to advance interprofessional learning experiences that promote comprehensive team-base patient-centered care.

The six professional education associations that are IPEC members include the American Dental Education Association, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, the American Association of American Medical Colleges, and the Association of Schools of Public Health.