IPE and Collaborative Practice Committee Identifies Best Practices
Along with ASCO’s embracing IPE and Collaborative Practice as a Core Strategic Objective, the IPE Task Force that was established in 2013 has transitioned to become the IPE and Collaborative Practice (IPECP) Committee. The committee’s focus remains identifying and sharing with member institutions best practices in IPE and recommendations for assessing learning and patient care outcomes so IPE can be incorporated or expanded in their curricula. The committee is also working to raise public and professional awareness of the role optometry has in team-based, collaborative, patient-centered care.
The IPECP, chaired by Dr. Jennifer Coyle, was committed throughout the fall to discussing the state of IPE in optometry. Committee members delivered presentations during meetings of ASCO’s Chief Academic Officers and Residency Educators SIG and to the American Academy of Optometry (AAO). The information presented to the AAO in November can be downloaded from the web. In addition to Dr. Coyle (PUCO), the members of the committee are Dr. John Baker (ICO), Dr. Barry Fisch (NECO), Dr. Elizabeth Hoppe (WUCO), Dr. John Nishimoto (SCCOMBKU), Dr. David Troilo (SUNY) and Dr. Melissa Vitek (PCO). Joanne Zuckerman provides ASCO staff support.
An ASCO Summit on IPE and Collaborative Practice will be held Feb. 5-6, 2016, at Marshall B. Ketchum University in Fullerton, Calif. The summit will bring together representatives from all 21 schools and colleges of optometry as well as advocates of IPE from outside of the profession to share current and best practices and to assist member institutions in preparing their students for participation in collaborative care.
IOM Global Forum Addresses Impact of IPE
ASCO continues to be an active participant in the Institute of Medicine’s Global Forum on Innovation in Health Professional Education. As a member of the Forum, ASCO is represented by Dr. Linda Casser of Pennsylvania College of Optometry at Salus University (PCO). Dr. Casser recently attended the Forum’s fall planning meeting and workshop, “Measuring the Impact of Interprofessional Education (IPE) on Collaborative Practice and Patient Outcomes.”
At the Forum’s May 2014 workshop, “Scaling Up Best Practices in Community-Based Health Professional Education,” Dr. Casser participated in a webcast during which she discussed interprofessional education and collaborative care involving the Pacific University College of Optometry (PUCO) at the university’s Interprofessional Diabetes Clinic. She also presented a poster about community-based collaborative training and care at PCO. A PowerPoint presentation based on the webcast, created by ASCO President Dr. Jennifer Coyle and Dr. Carole Timpone of PUCO, can be viewed online. The poster, authored by Dr. Casser, Dr. Melissa Vitek of PCO and Dr. Valerie Pendley of the Chestnut Hill Family Practice in Philadelphia, Pa., can also be found online.
The next workshop of the Global Forum, “Envisioning the Future of Health Professional Education,” will be held in April 2015.