Two faculty to represent Texas A&M Health on national interprofessional education stage

Two members of the Interprofessional Education Leadership Team at the Texas A&M University Health Science Center (Texas A&M Health) have been nominated by their professional organizations to join the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) Core Competencies Revision Group: Gerard Carrino, PhD, MPH, instructional professor at the School of Public Health, and Hector Chapa, MD, FACOG, clinical assistant professor at the College of Medicine. Their participation in this national volunteer service opportunity will help guide interprofessional education (IPE) across 21 IPEC member organizations to better meet the health needs of our nation.

The IPEC Core Competencies were introduced in 2011 and have helped frame the national dialogue about IPE and collaborative practice (CP) as a means of improving team-based patient care and enhancing population health outcomes. The purpose of this framework was to build on each profession’s disciplinary competencies to define competencies for IPE and CP. The initial IPEC panel identified four core competencies: values and ethics; roles and responsibilities for collaborative practice; interprofessional communication; and teamwork and team-based care. The core competencies were revised in 2016 to address two significant changes in the health care system: 1) increased emphasis on the nationally recognized framework known as the “triple aim” (improving the individual experience of care, improving the health of populations and reducing the per capita costs of care for populations), and 2) the implementation of the 2010 Affordable Care Act. The four core competencies, however, remain central to the framework.

IPEC is initiating a formal process to review and revise the 2016 IPEC Core Competencies. Areas of focus for the 2021-2023 revision include: empowering the IPE community with the best available evidence and research related to IPE and CP; conducting a cyclical review on common definitions for competence, competency and competency framework; and ensuring that this framework accurately reflects any changes in research, policy and practice. Carrino and Chapa’s disciplinary contributions will be broad reaching as they work to further elevate IPE and collaborative practice and represent Texas A&M Health on the national IPE stage.

Written by Christine Kaunas, executive director of Interprofessional Education & Research