An approach to Interprofessional Education for All UTMB Students

The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston is accredited to provide health care education by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. As part of our re-accreditation process, we have developed a Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP). The focus of the plan is Interprofessional Education and has been entitled "synergy".

synergy is designed to provide collaborative educational experiences for students in the School of Nursing, the School of Health Professions, the School of Medicine, and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. We will build on the Institute of Medicine's vision for improving the quality of health care delivered by interprofessional teams. Explore this site to learn more.

How can faculty become involved in synergy?

Faculty will develop and enhance interprofessional educational experiences in the hospitals, clinics, classrooms, and community to promote mutual understanding of professional roles, collaboration in planning health care, joint accountability for decision making and outcomes, and benefits to the patient. Faculty may take advantage of professional and activity development opportunities such as workshops and assistance from the synergy steering committee and synergy support team.

How will staff and administrators contribute to synergy?

Although UTMB has a history of offering interprofessional educational experiences, synergy brings commitment to a new level. To realize our vision, staff will be essential partners as we work together to offer resources and evaluate our progress.

What kinds of activities and experiences will synergy offer?

Small group experiences, practice and service learning opportunities, simulation activities and projects will be selected and/or enhanced as represented within our Model for Activity Selection and Enhancement.

Does synergy exemplify best practice?

A guiding framework represents a "chain of events" linking how activities are designed to implement theory driven goals. Activity-related assessments reflect student learning outcomes. Other evaluation instruments reflect satisfaction and effectiveness of service delivery. We plan to use the results from different kinds of instruments to inform decision-making about what constitutes best practice for interprofessional health education.