CHCS - Perspectives Summer/Fall 2017

16 Nova Southeastern University O N JUNE 22, 2016, the College of Health Care Sciences Best Practices Interprofessional Education (IPE) Subcommittee, in collaboration with the Center for Academic and Professional Excellence, hosted the third annual CHCS Leadership Institute with a focus on IPE. Interprofessional education is essential in health care education because it provides students with the interprofessional skills needed to be “collaborative ready” when caring for patients and is linked to improved patient outcomes. Additionally, health care education accrediting bodies are now implementing specific standards requiring IPE. The shared event was a perfect blend of professional development and interprofessional education programming. The event’s purpose was to educate all CHCS faculty and staff members about IPE and current IPE initiatives within the CHCS. INTERPROFESSIONAL EDUCATION AND COLLABORATION SPOTLIGHT Enhancing Interprofessional Education Change in a Team Environment By Suzie S. Wolf, M.S., PAS, PA-C, Chair, IPE Best Practices Subcommittee, and Assistant Professor, Physician Assistant—Jacksonville Program Most notably, the event featured two keynote speakers and included an interactive IPE activity at the end of the program. Approximately 30 faculty and staff members attended the event, with half of the attendees representing the Jacksonville and Tampa campuses. The keynote speakers—Karen T. Pardue, Ph.D., R.N., CNE, ANEF, and Shelley Cohen Konrad, Ph.D., LCSW, FNA—attended the event via teleconference from the University of New England. Both have established a national reputation as scholars for interprofessional and collaborative practice education. During their presentation, Pardue and Cohen Konrad contrib- uted excellent content on the history of IPE and the perils of implementing IPE initiatives within the academic setting. One of the key points highlighted emphasized that IPE efforts should be specific for each institution. Implementing IPE is not a “one- size-fits-all” approach. Instead, institutions should promote ideas