Building a Community of Interprofessional Leaders: Reflections from Cohorts 1 and 2 of Faculty Fellows

The presentation will provide the findings of a faulty development program assessment that took place at the University of Michigan as part of providing effective and sustainable IPE implementation across health sciences disciplines. According to research, interprofessional education is the precursor that should prepare health sciences professional program graduates for collaborative practice. The first step that is needed to accomplish this goal is to properly prepare educators to "have the knowledge and skills required to train health professions students for Interprofessional collaborative practice" (Ratka, Zorek, & Meyer, 2017, p. 2).

The presenter will share the findings of a study that explored the impacts of the Interprofessional Leadership (IPL) Fellows program on faculty from cohorts 1 and 2 of the Interprofessional Leadership Fellows (IPL Fellows) (2016-2018). The IPL Fellows program is a collaboration between The University of Michigan’s Center for Interprofessional Education and the Center for Research on Teaching and Learning (CRLT). The learning community was designed to advance the professional development and networking of health sciences faculty interested in Interprofessional education and practice. The IPL program included monthly learning community dinners, participation in the Train-the-Trainer (T3) Interprofessional Team Development program, and the development of a team project geared towards the advancement of IPE at U-M. The survey questions asked participants to reflect on the IPE gains and achievements they received as a result of participating in the program including continued engagements in IPE activities, enhancement of IPE teaching skills, and accomplishments such as publications and presentations.