Faculty of Medicine

The Canadian Association for University Continuing Education (CAUCE) has awarded Dr. Vernon Curran with the Distinguished Researcher Award for 2013. This award was established by CAUCE to recognize an individual who has made a sustained and significant contribution to university continuing education research in Canada. Dr. Curran is a Professor of Medical Education and director of Academic Research and Development with the Faculty of Medicine. He is a former Director of the Centre for Collaborative Health Professional Education and continues to serve as a consultant for interprofessional education and research. He has a superior record of achievement in research and scholarship with a key focus on the fields of continung professional education, continuing medical education and interprofessional education in the health professions and adult education as well as other significant achievements. Dr. Curran will accept the award at an Awards Ceremony in Montreal, Quebec, on May 24, 2013.

Interprofessional education reaches a special milestone at Memorial

For more than a decade, the Centre for Collaborative Health Professional Education (CCHPE) has offered an interprofessional education module (IPE) on HIV/AIDS care. The HIV/AIDS module is the longest standing IPE activity offered across health professional education curriculum at Memorial. This year’s module took place from Feb. 21-28, with more than 180 participating students from the Faculty of Medicine, Schools of Nursing and Pharmacy, and Western Regional School of Nursing who participated via videoconference. Each interprofessional student group interviewed a standardized patient (SP) enacting the role of the HIV/AIDS patient. The students formulated a plan of care and presented it to the SP. The small-group activity was followed by a plenary session which included a panel comprised of the provincial HIV clinical team, a representative of the Aids Committee of Newfoundland and Labrador and a patient. The panel members discussed their roles and collaborative care for persons living with HIV/AIDS. Click here for more information.

Winter 2013 IPE Initiatives

CCHPE concludes another busy semester of IPE activities. Three IPE modules were offered over an eight-week period for approximately 650 students who are enrolled in medicine, nursing, pharmacy, social work, psychology, therapeutic recreation, and policing programs. CCHPE utilizes a blended learning approach for IPE including learning activities such as web-based resources, online and face-to-face interprofessional discussion, case based learning, simulated patient interviews utilizing Standardized Patients, and plenary sessions including panel presentations and large group discussions. The three modules implemented this semester are Professionalism in Interprofessional Teamwork, HIV/AIDS Care, and Health and Wellbeing of Children. In addition, CCHPE continued to implement practice-based training with approximately 130 medicine, nursing, and pharmacy students.

CCHPE receives honourable mention
for curricular innovation (2012)

Memorial’s Centre for Collaborative Health Care Professional Education (CCHPE) received honourable mention in the Academy for Healthcare Improvement’s 2012 competition for the Duncan Neuhauser Awards. There were a record number of submissions for the 2012 competition. CCHPE’s submission, Interprofessional education in practicing teams: Improving collaboration and patient safety, was ranked fourth by the review team and received a certificate of honourable mention. Dr. Julia Trahey, Faculty of Medicine, accepted the certificate on behalf of the curriculum team at the annual Scientific Symposium hosted by the Academy of Healthcare Improvement in Orlando, Florida.

Memorial is a two-time first-place winner in the annual Duncan Neuhauser Award for Curricular Innovation competition. In 2009 and 2010 the CCHPE submissions claimed the top prize. The 2009 winning submission was titled Teaching Collaboration Competencies in Clinical Training: Where the Rubber Hits the Road. In 2010, the Interprofessional Education Module for Patient Safety took the top prize.

Building upon the highly successful Collaborating Across Borders Conference series, CAB IV is the fourth joint conference that links Canada and the United States around the key themes of interprofessional education (IPE) and interprofessional practice (IPP). The conference, scheduled for June 12-14, 2013, in Vancouver, British Columbia, will feature best practices, showcase evidence-based outcomes and lessons learned, and provide a venue for scholarly dialogue and productive networking. Dr. Olga Heath, Director of CCHPE, will be attending the conference and profiling one of the Centre’s initiatives related to improving teamwork in the practice setting. According to Dr. Heath, poorly functioning teams impact not only patient care, but also practice education as students learn problematic behaviours through modelling. “It is essential for health and education sectors to work together in order to enhance team functioning to improve patient care, staff morale and student learning.” For more information on the CAB IV Conference, click here.

Fall 2012 IPE Initiatives

More than 650 students of health and social care programs at Memorial participated in three IPE initiatives during the fall 2012 semester. In October, students from the Faculty of Medicine, Schools of Nursing and Pharmacy, and the Western Regional School of Nursing participated in the award-winning IPE module for Patient Safety. Learning activities included an online case study assignment, small group discussion, and plenary session with an interprofessional expert panel and simulated occurrence disclosure. In November, CCHPE offered the Collaborative Mental Health module which involved uniprofessional and interprofessional small-group learning activities including interviews with standardized patients portraying the role of the case study patient. Throughout the semester, the Centre implemented practice-based learning initiatives with the Faculty of Medicine’s Psychiatry clerks and nursing students at the three provincial nursing programs. Interprofessional curriculum teams are well under way with planning IPE initiatives for the winter semester.

CCHPE Wins 2nd Annual Duncan Neuhauser Award for Curricular Innovation (2010)

For the second year in a row, the Centre for Collaborative Health Professional Education has claimed the top prize in the Academy of Healthcare Improvement’s (AHI) competition for the Duncan Neuhauser Award for Curricular Innovation. The curriculum team, led by Dr. Anne Kearney, developed and delivered an interprofessional education module for Patient Safety for students of Memorial’s Faculty of Medicine, Schools of Nursing and Pharmacy, and the Western Regional School of Nursing. The AHI described the module as “an outstanding example of interprofessional curriculum, both in its scope and in the quality of the outcomes assessment which serves as a great template for other schools seeking examples of interprofessional patient safety education.” Dr. Kearney accepted the award on behalf of the curriculum team at the annual Scientific Symposium hosted by the Academy of Healthcare Improvement in Orlando, Florida. See http://www.a4hi.org/ for more information.

Drs. Duncan Neuhauser and Anne Kearney

New Zealand Educator shares ideas on collaborative practice

Dr. Sue Pullon from the University of Otago Wellington in New Zealand visited Memorial to share ideas about collaborative practice. Dr. Pullon is the incoming head of the Department of Primary Health Care and General Practice at the University of Otago Wellington and a general practitioner. Her key research areas of interest are currently in the development and maintenance of collaborative practice and effective teamwork in primary care settings. In September, Dr. Pullon presented “Collaborative Practice in New Zealand Primary Care: Myth or Reality?” which summarized findings of a study of the interprofessional relationships between NZ doctors and nurses, investigating the nature and development of interprofessional trust.

CCHPE Welcomes Dr. Phillip Clark

The Centre recently hosted Dr. Phillip Clark for a special lecture event entitled “Best Practices and Models of Geriatric Interprofessional Education and Teamwork: Implications for Newfoundland and Labrador.” Dr. Clark is a Professor and Director of the Program in Gerontology and Geriatrics at the University of Rhode Island in Kingston, Rhode Island, USA. His research interests include interprofessional education for health care teamwork, health promotion with older adults, comparative health care policy, narrative gerontology, and ethical issues in aging. Click here for a copy of Dr. Clark’s presentation.

NaHSSA Social Networking Tool

The National Health Sciences Students’ Association (NaHSSA) has recently announced the launch of their Social Networking Tool. The purpose of this tool is to facilitate greater networking opportunities with students, faculty, clinicians, and partners in Canada and abroad. It will enable members to find up-to-date interprofessional contact information and trade chapter initiatives; showcase events and initiatives; share knowledge and experience with students, chapters, clinicians, and faculty; and grow their interprofessional networks. Visit the NaHSSA website for more information and to Sign up

Eating Disorder Interprofessional
Community Capacity Building Workshop

The Centre for Collaborative Health Professional Education (CCHPE) was pleased to provide support for the delivery of an Eating Disorder Interprofessional Community Capacity Building Workshop that was held at the Health Sciences Centre, St. John’s, in April 2010. This program was the result of a collaborative effort between faculty and staff of Memorial University, Eastern Health, and the Centre for Nursing Studies. The purpose of the workshop was to increase the capacity of health care providers to respond to the needs of people and families affected by eating issues/disordered eating/eating disorders within their own community and to foster the development of collaborative practice. Workshop topics included prevention, identification, early intervention, referral to specialized services, follow-up care, and the importance of interprofessional care. The two-day workshop was attended by more than 140 education, medicine, nursing, and allied health professionals from the Avalon region. The program was piloted in Corner Brook in 2009, and plans are under way to present the workshop in the Central and Labrador/Grenfell regions during the fall of 2010. The Eating Disorder Interprofessional Community Capacity Building Team is chaired by Dr. Olga Heath, Director of CCHPE.

Duncan Neuhauser Award for Curricular Innovation (2009)

A research team led by the Centre for Collaborative Health Professional Education wins an award for curricular innovation. The Academy of Healthcare Improvement announced in December 2009 that the Medicine Interprofessional Practice-based Learning (IPPL) Team was the winner of the Duncan Neuhauser Award for Curricular Innovation for its submission “Teaching Collaboration Competencies in Clinical Training: Where the Rubber Hits the Road.” On behalf of the team, Dr. Hubert White accepted the award and the cash prize of $500 at the Academy’s Scientific Symposium in Orlando, Florida.

Members of the team include (l-r) Dr. Hubert White, Dr. Olga Heath, Ms. Patricia McCarthy, Dr. Ted Calanan, and (missing from photo) Dr. David Craig.

Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative (CIHC)

The Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative has recently released key documents related to interprofessional health education:

February 2010 - CIHC Competency Framework
February 2010 - CIHC Knowledge Exchange Strategy
October 2009 – Program Evaluation for Interprofessional Initiatives: Evaluatiion Instruments/Methods of the 20 IECPCP Projects

Visit CIHC’s website to review these documents.

Framework for Action on Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently released The Framework for Action on Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice. This report highlights the current status of interprofessional collaboration around the world, identifies the mechanisms that shape successful collaborative teamwork and outlines a series of action items that policy makers can apply within their local health system. The goal of the Framework is to provide strategies and ideas that will help health policy makers implement the elements of interprofessional education and collaborative practice that will be most beneficial in their own jurisdiction. A printable version of the Framework can be downloaded from the WHO website.

Accreditation of Interprofessional Health Education (AIPHE)

A partnership of eight national organizations that accredit pre-licensure education for six health professions in Canada will collaborate in a 1 ½ year project to create and support the use of core joint principles/guidelines in formulating standards for interprofessional education. The Partnership, representing the disciplines of physiotherapy, occupational therapy, pharmacy, social work, nursing and medicine, will consult with a wider range of stakeholders to develop principles/guidelines for use in formulating standards for their organizations and promoting their use among other stakeholders. See http://www.afmc.ca/projects-aiphe-e.php for more information about AIPHE and their published reports.

CHSRF Synthesis: Interprofessional Collaboration and Quality Primary Healthcare

This synthesis report was commissioned by the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation and the Health Council of Canada to gain a better understanding of the evidence surrounding interprofessional collaboration in Canadian primary healthcare, and the potential benefits for patients and healthcare providers. It focuses on existing evaluations of interprofessional collaboration initiatives in the literature and projects funded through the Primary Health Care Transition Fund.

Upcoming conferences of interest to health professional educators:

The following organizations regularly sponsor meetings and conferences of interest to health professional educators. For information on current and upcoming events, follow the links below to the organizational web pages:

Links to other educational and professional organizations of interest to health professional educators are located under “Resources for Health Professional Educators" on our website.