Making connections is the goal of a growing Interprofessional Education (IPE) Committee of the USC Health Sciences campus.
“Despite the fact that IPE activities were taking place on the Health Sciences Campus, most were occurring in silos,” remembered Eileen Eandi, IPE Committee chair and associate director of the Educational and Research Services Division at the USC Norris Medical Library. Explaining why she became involved, she said, “The library is neutral ground. We wanted to facilitate communication between the health science programs and had no axe to grind.”
In 2010 she initiated the IPE Committee to bring together interested participants from the different schools so that they could meet one another and form collaborations.
“There are faculty in each school who are dedicated to IPE,” Eandi said, “and students who are passionate.”
Two examples of IPE programs that involve students and faculty from multiple USC schools are the Student-Run Clinic and the Pilot Interprofessional Geriatrics Curriculum.
The IPE committee meets quarterly, while an executive committee, established in 2013, focuses on advancing interprofessional education at USC and obtaining funding for IPE initiatives. The executive committee includes representatives from medicine, physician assistant program, physical therapy, dentistry, pharmacy and occupational therapy.
Among current committee projects are:A video overview of IPE activities with participation by students.
- A catalog of health sciences IPE activities.
- Planning for an IPE Day in October 2013 to focus on the needs of military service members and their families.
- Exploring collaborations with medical informatics in the Keck Medical Center of USC.
- Training additional faculty members in conducting IPE.
- Posting resources on the committee’s website at norris.usc.libguides.com/ipe.
For more information, visit the website or contact Eandi at eeandi@usc.edu.