The University of Michigan’s Center for Interprofessional Education has awarded two teams with its awards for innovation and excellence in recognition of those who have made outstanding contributions in advancing interprofessional education and practice.
This year’s recipient of the award for IPE Innovation is the TEAMS (Teams Engaging to Acquire Meaningful Skills) team for its work in implementing the TEAMS activities into the clinical experience for undergraduate nursing students at the School of Nursing.
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The award for IPE Excellence went to the MoveMore team for creating a class that provides Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Doctor of Physical Therapy students the opportunity to practice interprofessional collaborative care while assisting community members who have had a stroke to walk farther and faster.
The annual award categories and criteria were updated for 2024 to better reflect and honor the work being done within the IPE community. The new award categories, for IPE Innovation and IPE Excellence, allow the center to celebrate creative new ideas alongside those with a deep record of impact.
“This year’s awardees are wonderful examples of the work happening across U-M to shape the future of health and health care, especially with both focusing on experiential education, which is the most challenging of all of our work,” said Rajesh Mangrulkar, director of the Center for IPE.
“Thank you for your outstanding work and contributions to advancing IPE for our students, our community partners and for systems that improve health.”
The awards were presented at the University of Michigan Health Professions Education Day on April 2.
Award for IPE Innovation: TEAMS
Awardees, all from the School of Nursing unless otherwise noted, include:
- Grace Kanzawa-Lee, clinical assistant professor.
- Sue Wintermeyer-Pingel, clinical assistant professor.
- Laura Prochnow, clinical assistant professor.
- Nicole Smith, clinical instructor.
- LaToya Brown, clinical assistant professor.
- Amy Buckenmeyer, clinical assistant professor.
- Michelle Pardee, clinical associate professor.
- Hannah Edwards, curriculum administrative specialist, Center for IPE.
The TEAMS activities follow a scaffolding learning continuum consisting of three activities designed to introduce interprofessional experiences within the practice setting. The Center for IPE adapted the TEAMS activities from the Flexible Activities developed by the University of Toronto’s Centre for Advancing Collaborative Healthcare & Education.
Faculty working within the School of Nursing IPE workgroup decided to pilot the TEAMS activities among sophomore and junior BSN students. They worked closely with Edwards to set up a Canvas site and with the C-IPE intentional measurement and research workgroup to identify evaluation tools.
The TEAMS activities allowed students to meet and learn about other professionals in the hospital, seeing the critical role interprofessional teams play in patient outcomes. Students also attended interprofessional team meetings to observe how teams work together to provide care and resources to their patients.
Award for IPE Excellence: MoveMore
Members of the MoveMore team, all from UM-Flint, include:
- Amy Yorke, professor, College of Health Sciences.
- Rebecca James, student, College of Health Sciences.
- Chelsie Smith, student, College of Health Sciences.
- Luke Reed, student, College of Health Sciences.
- Suzanne Trojanowski, clinical associate professor, College of Health Sciences.
- Leslie Smith, clinical associate professor, College of Health Sciences.
- Maureen Murphy, assistant professor, School of Nursing.
- Megan Keiser, professor, School of Nursing.
- Abigail Davis, lecturer I, School of Nursing.
UM-Flint’s College of Health Sciences offers a collection of pro-bono health services through a community program called Health Equity Action Research and Teaching. HEART offers a High Intensity Gait Training class called MoveMore for people who have chronic effects due to stroke.
MoveMore began as a pilot in spring 2022 and has since been offered for six consecutive semesters. Teams of three to five students from DPT and BSN programs work together over the course of a semester to develop interprofessional relationships while providing continuity of care to their community partners.
Since the MoveMore pilot, approximately 60 BSN students, 80 DPT students and 18 community partners have participated. The team has observed improvements in their community partners’ walking abilities, and in the collaborative behaviors demonstrated by the students.
