The Eastern Shore Collaborative for Interprofessional Education's Implementation and Impact over Five Years.

Health care professionals working collaboratively on interprofessional teams are essential to optimize patient-centered care. Collaboration and teamwork can be best achieved if interprofessional education (IPE) starts early for health professions students. This commentary describes the formation, implementation, impact, and lessons learned from students' curricular and co-curricular activities and faculty collaboration over a five-year trajectory of the Eastern Shore Collaborative for Interprofessional Education (ESCIPE). This collaborative is an inter-institutional, interprofessional team and includes 18 faculty members from nine health disciplines with administrative support to prepare practice-ready graduates through effective IPE curricular and co-curricular activities. This collaborative also serves as a resource for interprofessional education, research and scholarship initiatives for faculty members. Activities include educational programs such as an emergency preparedness point-of-dispensing (POD) drill, patient management laboratory simulation, geriatric assessment interdisciplinary team workshop, medical mission as public/global health rotation and service-learning program, rural health fair, and annual university health festival for community outreach. The ESCIPE has also facilitated interprofessional faculty assessment and development, research and scholarship opportunities.

Faculty Perceptions, Knowledge, and Attitudes Toward Interprofessional Education and Practice.

As interprofessional education (IPE) is incorporated into health professions programs, it is essential to understand faculty perceptions, knowledge, and attitudes about IPE and interprofessional practice (IPP). A descriptive, cross-sectional design was used. Seventy-one faculty from three campuses of two rural public universities representing seven different programs participated. Despite limited IPE experience, faculty appreciated IPE and IPP. Notably, many felt undervalued by other professions. Participants acknowledged the importance of working with other professions (mean 2.69±0.53), participating on IP teams (2.61±0.52), and integrating IPP in patient care (2.60±0.52). Faculty reported low IPE knowledge (1.74±0.66) and confidence in IPE teaching ability (1.74±0.67). These findings demonstrate a need for faculty development in both IPE and IPP across all health disciplines.

Design of a Medical Triage Evidence-Based Clinical Management Protocol and Implementation of Medical Triage On-Line Training for Use by Mission of Mercy Volunteers.

Evidence-based protocols in safety net settings can help standardize care practices, increase organizational workflow, and enhance quality outcomes for those receiving services. The purpose of this quality improvement project is two-fold: to design an evidence-based medical triage clinical management protocol, and, to influence adherence to that protocol by safety net medical triage volunteers through an on-line volunteer orientation. Leadership skills were required to help translate evidence-based practice recommendations into useful tools to assist in directing practice. Project outcomes included successful multidisciplinary practice change, significantly improved volunteer knowledge surrounding medical triage protocol parameters, increased organizational workflow, and enhanced quality client outcomes.