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Lightning Talk

Cultivating Interprofessional Wisdom: An Evaluation of the American Interprofessional Health Collaborative Mentoring Program

Thursday, September 25, 2025, 1:15 pm - 2:15 pm CDT
Aline Saad, PharmD, FNAP
Director of Faculty Development, Coordinator of Interprofessional Education, Associate Professor of
Wayne State University
Melissa Zarn Urankar, OD
Associate Professor
Southern College of Optometry
Caitlin Rukat, MS
Research Assistant
Wayne State University
Kaisa Syvaoja, OTD, OTR/L
Associate Professor, Program Director
The College of St. Scholastica
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Track:
Keywords: mentorshipmenteeinterprofessional leadership

This Lightning Talk has been grouped with others in a common theme. During the Summit session, presenters in this group will share their Lightning Talks in short presentations with a facilitated Q and A or group discussion. Please review the descriptions of the other Lightning Talks during this breakout session:

Burnout is a Team Issue - a National Pilot of Stress Education for Interprofessional Mentors and Mentees Mentorship in Action: Driving Meaningful Transformation in IPE More Than Goals: Building Confidence, Connection, and Community Through the AIHC Mentoring Program

Mentoring serves as an essential tool to facilitate the growth and development of healthcare educators engaged in interprofessional practice and education (IPE). The American Interprofessional Health Collaborative (AIHC), in collaboration with the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education, developed the AIHC mentoring program. This study describes the characteristics of mentors and mentees choosing to participate in the AIHC mentoring program, reports on their perceived effectiveness of the program in meeting its objectives and assesses if participation supported achieving participants’ personal goals. The AIHC mentoring program is a year-long virtual program that comprises three components including self-reflection and goal setting, one-on-one meetings between mentees and mentors, and quarterly cohort meetings. At the conclusion of the program, mentors and mentees completed the same 16-question survey assessing each of the program’s components. Between 2019 and 2024, 80 healthcare educators participated in the program, of which 26 (32%) served as mentors and 54 (68%) were mentees. The top three areas mentors felt they could provide the most support in were building an IPE program (81%), curriculum development (69%), and learner assessment and research/scholarship (58%). The three highest listed needs for IPE support among mentees were in curriculum development (50%), research/scholarship (48%), and program evaluation (43%). A total of 38 of 80 participants completed the post-program evaluation survey (48% response rate). Participants completely agreed that the program met its objectives while effectively supporting their achievement of set goals particularly through regular mentor/mentee meetings.