
Sara
North,
PT, DPT, PhD, M.Ed., FNAP
Co-Director, Center for Interprofessional Health
University of Minnesota
Sara North PT, DPT, PhD, M.Ed., FNAP serves as Co-Director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Interprofessional Health and Director of Educational Innovation and Evaluation and Associate Professor in the Division of Physical Therapy, Medical School. Dr. North is a Distinguished Scholar Fellow in the National Academies of Practice and earned national awards for leadership, innovation, and influence. Dr. North’s scholarly and professional passions include interprofessional curriculum development and assessment, systems-level approaches to organizational change, clinical education, population health, diversity in health professions, and collaborative initiatives to move IPE/IPCP forward through academic-clinical partnerships and data-informed curricular design and assessment.
Presenting at the Nexus Summit:
The assessment and evaluation of programs and centers for interprofessional practice and education is an essential component in examining impact. When building an IPE center or developing interprofessional programming for learners it is essential to identify the intended stakeholders and participants, and what the center or program is attended to achieve. If we are to determine if these intended outcomes are achieved, we must ensure the development and implementation of effective assessment and evaluation plans. During this seminar, participants will have the opportunity to explore how…
This Lightning Talk expands upon a presentation at the 2024 Nexus Summit by describing an institution-level program’s final stage of scaffolded adaptation and growth. IPE faculty development (i.e., training prospective academic and clinical educators) is critical in sustaining the future of collaborative workforce preparation. IPE faculty development can create a symbiotic relationship that benefits all facets of healthcare by increasing collegiality, community, and potential interdisciplinary research opportunities in academic institutions.Nevertheless, faculty engagement, including…
This active engagement seminar is designed to guide participants through tangible considerations in the development, implementation, and evolution of quality interprofessional education (IPE) at an academic institution or clinical training site. Guidance from the Health Professions Accreditors Collaborative (HPAC) and National Collaborative to Improve the Clinical Learning Environment (NCICLE) will be applied within participants’ institutional/organizational context to identify strategies and frameworks for implementing, evaluating, and refining systematic IPE approaches and plans. Given the…
This lightning talk highlights the findings of three recent publications in a series of analyses designed to build the evidence base for interprofessional education (IPE). Best practices have not yet been established in the IPE literature to guide the ideal dose and duration of IPE experiences across the curriculum, nor is it known how best to measure interprofessional competency development across experiences and over time. Further, differences in interprofessional competency attainment between health professions and/or learner degree level following participation in a foundational IPE…
The Interprofessional Internship Program (IIP) at the University of Minnesota is an innovative internship model targeting students’ interprofessional competencies through hands-on, partnered engagement with community organizations to solve real-world challenges. Over its first five years, the program supported 36 projects with 19 community organizations and involved 69 students from 24 academic programs. Intern teams co-developed solutions addressing health workforce shortages, systems improvement, and rural healthcare issues. The IIP model incorporated direct mentorship, interprofessional…
This lightning talk presents an innovative advancement in practice-education partnerships, termed the LEAP Champion model, which serves as a call to our IPE academic and health system players to partner in the nexus to authentically prepare a collaborative practice-ready workforce. Significant gaps exist in understanding the opportunities and challenges in implementing interprofessional education (IPE) in the clinical learning environment (CLE). Academic institutions face barriers in implementation due to a lack of knowledge and control within the practice setting, and practice settings face…
While some literature and organizational documentation exists describing interprofessional education (IPE) team resources and institutional structures, little is shared regarding the teamwork, communication, and roles and responsibilities within IPE teams. In line with the Nexus Summit theme “Developing and Sustaining Leadership in Interprofessional Practice and Education,” this seminar session presents the perspectives of the University of Minnesota Center for Interprofessional Health (CIH) leadership, faculty, and staff regarding the past, current, and future state of operations in…
Background: As interprofessional education (IPE) evolves to meet the needs of diverse learners and learning environments, understanding how delivery modality influences learner experience is critical. Few studies have applied a conceptual framework to compare virtual and in-person IPE formats. This study uses the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework to explore the perceived learning experience and satisfaction of health professional students participating in foundational IPE across two delivery modes.Methodology: We conducted a mixed-methods analysis of retrospective post-activity evaluations…