About
The Center for Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Care at Virginia Commonwealth University was established in 2012.
Center Directory
Mission And Vision
The mission of the Center for Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Care at Virginia Commonwealth University is to improve health through collaboration by:
- Implementing interprofessional models of care that advance patient and population health,
- Promoting research-driven innovations in interprofessional education and practice, and
- Educating students and practitioners to lead in an evolving interprofessional health care environment.
Our vision is to become a national model for transforming communities and healthcare through innovations in education, scholarship and practice focused on increasing interprofessional care.
Interprofessional: What Does It Mean?
Each profession, regardless of industry, seems to speak a different language. Interprofessionalism is no different. Below are some basic concepts and references to sort out the alphabet soup.
Interprofessional teamwork involves different health and/or social care professions who, for example, share a team identity and work closely together in an integrated and interdependent manner to solve complex care problems and deliver services.
Interprofessional Education (IPE)
Interprofessional education (IPE) is individuals from two or more professions learning about, from, and with each other in order to improve the health of patients and communities. IPE is necessary to increase interprofessional practice (IPP) and has become an area of emphasis for all educational programs in the health professions.
Interprofessional Practice (IPP)
Interprofessional practice (IPP) is when individuals from two or more professions work together to improve the health of patients and/or the community. Because of the complexity of the challenges facing our society, interprofessional practice is needed to provide solutions that integrate the multiple perspectives of different professions, patients, and communities.
Interdisciplinary (ID) Teamwork
Interdisciplinary (ID) teamwork is an approach like interprofessional teamwork but differs as the team members are composed of individuals from different disciplines such as psychology, anthropology, economics and geography.
References
- World Health Organization Framework for action on interprofessional education and collaborative practice
- Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI): Four Points to Help Set Your Strategy