A strategy for creating an interprofessional academy at a large academic center
Background: Education is at the core of academic medical centers, yet often does not receive the resources or attention like clinical care or research. Independent activities in support of education were happening across our institution but there was no established entity to support education. The challenge was to convince institutional leadership to organize and finance such an entity. The goal was to establish an Academy for Health Professions Education and Academic Development (Duke AHEAD), an infrastructure to support educational excellence and innovation across the continuum of health professional education (HPE). Objectives: 1. To create an academic home, promotion opportunities, and academic credit for medical educators 2. To provide faculty development for HPE 3. To implement experiences in interprofessional education (IPE) for our students 4. To support and fund innovations and research in HPE Methods: The Vice Dean for Education, serving as Chair of a subcommittee on education that was part of a health system wide strategic planning process, introduced the concept of an IPE academy and garnered broad support. He also tasked a team in a senior leadership development program to create a strategic vision and process for establishing this academy. The proposed academy had three pillars: Recognition and Promotion, Faculty Development, and Research and Innovation. The Chancellor for Health Affairs approved the proposal and provided funding. Results/Outcomes/Improvements: • Create an institutional priority for an IPE academy • Leverage existing activities to get immediate traction and success • Provide resources for research and innovation to as many faculty as possible • Design programs that are open to everyone Significance/Implications/Relevance: Faculty, staff and students who had been working on individual initiatives were willing to come together to work under the academy to help achieve the goals of their combined initiatives. Interprofessional teamwork and collaboration is the future of medicine. Duke AHEAD uniquely serves this purpose at a large academic center and can be a model for collaborations elsewhere.
- 2015