Office of Interprofessional Education Continues to Grow Progressive IPE Program

Welcome to the first blog post from the Office of Interprofessional Education (IPE)! We are excited to launch this new platform through which we plan to bring you the latest from the Office of IPE here at Campbell. We look forward to showcasing student and faculty spotlights, informational videos, program insights, in-depth insights into interprofessional competencies and skills, event recaps, research in progress, office publications, and so much more. As Director of IPE, I am looking forward to sharing all that our office has in store with our greater community. 

Interprofessional education (IPE), in general, is a massive movement in the realm of healthcare (and beyond!). All institutions and industries of healthcare are moving at various speeds toward various models of team-based healthcare delivery. To many, the “movement” of IPE seems an abstract focus rather than the “nuts and bolts” of clinical skills, basic science, and profession-specific competencies upon which traditional health science curricula are founded. At the same time, studies increasingly support the importance of training healthcare professionals to effectively serve on interprofessional collaborative healthcare teams.

In general, IPE is still finding its rightful place in the health science curriculum. At many institutions, IPE is a curricular add-on which is assigned to faculty members who often do not have the time or resources needed to develop comprehensive IPE programs. Most of the time it is simply an added responsibility to already heavily-laden plates. However, things are different for IPE here at Campbell. Some of the major milestones for IPE at Campbell include when an exclusive IPE Office was created, and again, when both a dedicated staff position – and later on a dedicated full-time assistant dean’s position – were created. Early on, Campbell saw the importance and need for IPE and made way for a full-fledged IPE program and curriculum.

Clearly, the movement of IPE rests on the shoulders of individuals, who (whatever their capacity may be – wherever they may be) champion IPE and endeavor to deliver a comprehensive curriculum that prepares students from all health science programs to become effective members of the interprofessional collaborative healthcare team. 

In many ways, IPE has only just arrived (or is still arriving) at Campbell. Years in the making, our IPE program is still developing, and I expect it will always be so, as the very nature of IPE continues to grow and develop. And yet, our IPE program is already strong and comprehensive, encompassing multiple facets and offered to more than eight health science programs, not to mention those outside the health sciences.

It has been a journey (and will continue to be so), and Campbell IPE has been extremely blessed and fortunate to have been so passionately championed by incredible individuals along the way, without whom, the Campbell IPE program would not be in existence today.

So, over our upcoming first series of posts, we would like to step back and take a look at the history of IPE at Campbell and the champions who delivered us to where we are today. We will also be sharing some new developments from our office along the way. Stay tuned! #WeAreIPE