The 2018 event boasted more involvement by students and faculty Interprofessional Leadership Fellows.
For four years running, the University of Michigan’s Health Professions Education (HPE) Day has been a unique half-day event that showcases health education, research, practice, and collaborative projects. It annually sparks interprofessional collaboration, networking, and inspiration across the ten health professions schools on U-M’s three campuses (Ann Arbor, Flint, and Dearborn).
This 2018 HPE Day, which was held at the Michigan League in Ann Arbor on April 3, featured 68 poster presentations, the majority of which focused on interprofessional education (IPE) and care (IPC). Many project teams spanned across roles, with an unprecedented number of students joining faculty and health professionals in presenting this year. The 227 HPE Day participants for came from multiple offices and institutions across the state of Michigan, and included 67 students.
The three past and current cohorts of the U-M Interprofessional Leadership (IPL) Fellows were well represented. Approximately a quarter of the posters represented work by teams consisting fully or partly of the IPL Fellows, who are faculty from U-M (including Flint campus) who participate in an 18-month program to become change agents for interprofessional education and practice. Ribbons indicated the IPL posters, and the fellows had opportunities during the day and at lunch to exchange ideas. (Pictured above: U-M IPL Fellows Harneet Grewal, center, and Natalie Colabianchi, at right. See more HPE Day photos below.)
“I think this was our best HPE Day to date – what was so exciting was the level of interaction among participants,” said event co-chair Carol Anne Murdoch-Kinch, U-M School of Dentistry Clinical Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs (also an Executive Committee member of the Michigan Center for Interprofessional Education). “It was all about people coming together from across our health schools and colleges – including many new faces – to share ideas and plan future collaborations. I also appreciated the quality and sophistication of the projects being presented. IPE and IPC is evolving at Michigan, and we are transforming our culture for collaboration in health professions education!”
Welcoming participants and introducing the plenary part of the day was HPE Day co-chair Caren Stalburg, Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division Chief of Professional Education in the Department of Learning Health Sciences (also chair for Faculty Development Committee of the Michigan Center for Interprofessional Education). “As a proud graduate of the Medical School here, it’s always impressive to see how we all shape one another and how we all guide one another in our journeys,” she said.
Dr. Stalburg introduced Carole Bradford, Michigan Medical School Professor and the Executive Vice Dean for Academic Affairs, who also holds degrees from U-M. Dr. Bradford introduced the endowed lectureship in honor of James O. Woolliscroft and his contributions and legacy at the University of Michigan.
University of California-San Francisco Professor of Medicine Molly Cooke delivered the Inaugural James O. Woolliscroft Lecture on “How Much Difference Can One Teacher Make?” Her talk recapped “the really quite remarkable” academic career of Dr. Woolliscroft, a former U-M Medical School Professor and Dean. She focused on milestones of his expansive scholarship in medical education, especially with diagnostic reasoning and clinical decision-making, noting she found him listed as first or last author on 45 health education articles in PubMed.
Dr. Cooke celebrated additional teaching contributions that are powerful to students, including when the instructor doesn’t even know it. “There could be no greater honor than being asked to give this talk,” she said in conclusion, noting it was an opportunity to reflect on the impact of great teachers. (Watch a videoof Dr. Cooke’s talk.)
Dr. Woolliscroft was on hand throughout the day, perusing posters and talking with students, faculty, and other attendees. “It’s an incredible time to be involved in health professions education,” he said, noting that it was great to see so many health science schools and representatives from multiple U-M campuses.
Dozens of messages were tweeted on the #UMHPEDay hashtag, many from the event’s U-M sponsors: the Medical School’s Department of Learning Health Sciences Division of Professional Education, the Michigan Center for Interprofessional Education, the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching, and Academic Innovation.
Students and faculty also joined the Twitter conversation: “Had a great time learning about the different projects going on in the Health Professions Education community,” noted a fourth-year medical student, who appreciated the opportunity to share team project posters “and engage in conversation around feedback.”
“HPE Day is about creating community,” said Michigan Center for Interprofessional Education Director Frank Ascione to assembled participants. The exciting part of the day is interacting with each other, he said, adding: “One thing I’ve learned at University of Michigan is that when talented faculty and learners get together, exciting things happen.”
The University of Michigan is unique with ten health science schools across three campuses that share the core missions of preparing future clinicians and scholars, while caring for patients within a number of health care systems. Within each school, faculty members are actively engaged in educational experimentation and innovation, and many of the educators are working collaboratively through the Michigan Center for Interprofessional Education to develop and teach innovative courses focused on teamwork.
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See more photos and captions on the Department of Learning Health Systems website.