Content Start

Interprofessional Education

You need to have JavaScript enabled, and the Flash Player to view the embedded slideshow.

Health care and the health professions workforce in the U.S. are undergoing historic change, and barriers to the good health of our citizens are substantial. Citizens and communities everywhere are affected by issues of access to care, as well as quality, effectiveness and safety of care.

These urgent issues demand thinking beyond the status quo. The emerging new practice environment demands a shift towards teamwork in learning and practice by health professionals, who must work together to maintain better health through prevention and wellness, better care, and decreased costs. More than merely working together, providers must learn to practice collaboratively for the benefit of the patients and communities.

Historically, health professions education has focused on profession-specific skills, rather than preparing students for the realities of communicating and working together with other professions in practice. USI is now joining the efforts to go beyond these boundaries to connect the health professions, educators, health care providers, and all those involved in the continuum of care.


Announcements and Upcoming Events

Upcoming Conferences



USI 18th Annual Educators' Conference
October 23 , 2013
Keynote Speaker: Ivy F. Oandasan MD CCFP MHSc FCFP
Dr. Ivy Oandasan
Dr. Ivy Oandasan will present the keynote address and morning session on building a culture of collaborative practice among faculty, students, universities and communities. Dr. Oandasan is Associate Director, Academic Family Medicine, College of Family Physicians of Canada. She is an international leader in IPE, and served as the inaugural director of the University of Toronto's Office for IPE. In Toronto, she developed the organizational structures and strategies to implement an IPE curriculum, bridging gaps in collaborative practice across ten of the University's healthcare programs. In October 2007, Dr. Oandasan was named the provincial co-lead for the Ministry of Health's Health Force Ontario Interprofessional Care Project – Advancing a Blueprint for Action for Interprofessional Care. We are honored that she has accepted our invitation to share her insight and experiences with the USI community.