Lightning Talk

Creation of an Interprofessional Fellowship: Partnership Between a College of Health Sciences and a Center for Interprofessional Collaboration

Wednesday, September 17, 2025, 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm CDT
interprofessionalcollaborativefacultyfellowship

This lightning talk describes the creation of an interprofessional faculty fellowship through the collaboration of a College of Health Sciences and a Center for Interprofessional Collaboration at a state university. We cover the rationale, logistics (finances & faculty time allotment/distribution), proposed structure and intended measurable outcomes for success of the program.

Recent publications have called for the systematic approach to advancing IPE research, suggesting findings should have reproducibility, replicability, and generalizability of findings (Gunaldo et al. 2023). More rigorous research is needed to better understand IPE's impact on both individual and team-based outcomes, as well as on patient care. Specifically, a focus on improved research methodologies, linking IPE interventions to measurable changes/outcomes, examining the cost and cost-effectiveness of IPE interventions, and addressing challenges in IPE facilitation is crucial. In collaboration with the College of Health Sciences, the Center for Interprofessional Collaboration created an IPE fellowship program to serve as a catalyst to create a formal IPE research program at this university. This addresses the Summit theme, as addressing logistics, infrastructure, faculty commitment, and measurable outcomes for success is central in the creation of a formal institution-wide IPE research program which should help to address the need for more rigorous IPE research outcomes.

We will describe the creation of our IPE fellowship so other programs could consider similar programs at their own institution:
Through a brief proposal between the college and the IPE center, important issues around faculty time release, length of fellow experience, funding commitment, outcomes (and measures) expectations, sustainability were agreed upon and approved by the Provost's office.

We will describe the proposed measurable outcomes for success as part of our continuous improvement process:
As described, a formal IPE research program could help address some of the problems with IPE research including: improved methodologies (mixed methods, longitudinal studies, rigorous qualitative studies, consistent reporting frameworks), linking IPE to measurable outcomes (practice processes, patient outcomes, team-based care), examining the cost of IPE (cost analysis and cost effectiveness), and addressing challenges in IPE facilitation (team dynamics and facilitator role). As such, potential measurable outcomes for this fellowship include:
- Creation of structure and logistics for a formal interprofesssional center research program
- Increased submissions / publications to interprofessional meetings &/or journals
- Increased submissions / publications to profession specific meetings &/or journals
- Collaboration with university Office of the Vice Provost for Research
- Collaboration with AHSC colleges' research officers