Introducing: The IHSO Spotlight

Our goal as an organization is to promote and provide opportunities for interprofessional education...but why? According to the Institute of Medicine, there is a “widespread and growing belief that IPE [interprofessional education] may improve interprofessional collaboration, promote team-based health care delivery, and enhance personal and population health” (Institute of Medicine, 8). Interprofessional collaboration is essential in healthcare, both in treatment and prevention. A siloed viewpoint leads to gaps in understanding, while the perspectives of many allow a problem to be observed through a new lens. This is precisely the reason for the name of our blog…”Perspectives”.

Here at the University of Michigan, between the Ann Arbor, Flint, and Dearborn campuses, there are 13 different health professional schools that are actively developing future leaders in their fields. The University’s commitment is evident through the various initiatives that are focused on bringing faculty and students across disciplines together for a common purpose. These university centers include; M-Cubed, the Center for Interprofessional Education, and Innovation in Action, as well as student organizations such as IHI-Open School, the Student Run Free Clinic, and (yours truly) the Interprofessional Health Student Organization.

With such a diversity of interprofessional work being accomplished here at the University of Michigan, we wanted to begin a blog series to highlight just a few of the many faculty whose careers reflect the values that we as an organization strive to promote, such as:

1. Respecting and understanding the roles of health professionals outside of one's own profession

2. Recognizing one's own specific skillset and opportunities to contribute to a health care team

3. Putting the patient or priority population in the center of all decisions

4. Utilizing interdisciplinary collaboration to further knowledge in the prevention and treatment of disease

This is why we will be launching the IHSO Spotlight series this month. Although our training and skillsets may differ, it is our common goal of caring for the health and well-being of others that unites our professions. In fact, quality care is accomplished much more fruitfully when collaboration is strong.

We are excited to share the stories of how this truth is being played out at the University of Michigan.

If you know of any faculty at the University of Michigan from any of our 3 campuses whom you feel has an exemplary commitment to interprofessional education and/or collaboration, we would be happy to recognize them in one of our spotlights this year. Please email ihso-officers@umich.edu for recommendations.