Interprofessional education (IPE) occurs when two or more professions learn with, about and from each other to enable effective collaboration and improve health outcomes.
IPE prepares students from different health professions to work in a collaborative, team environment to provide highly effective patient- and population-centered care. Interprofessional teams enhance the quality of patient care, lower health care costs, decrease inpatient lengths of stay and reduce medical errors. Patients receive safer, high-quality care when health professionals work effectively in a team, communicate productively and understand each other's roles.
Associate Professor; Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
Research Interests: violence and victimization; especially child maltreatment; firearm violence and prevention; system responses to violence; quantitative analysis
UB Interprofessional (IP) Forums educate future health care professionals to improve health care delivery through collaboration. Though the IP forums are designed for health care professionals to work interprofessionally and collaboratively, the knowledge and skills gained from participating in the small group discussion, as well as the online module series on Foundations of Interprofessional Collaborative Practice (IPCP), should translate seamlessly to all social work practice models, including macro practice settings. The Office of Interprofessional Education (IPE) hosts IP Forums in the fall and spring.
Participating in the IP forums is a requirement for anyone enrolled in Interventions II (SW 521). Students in Interventions I (SW 520) may also be required to participation in IP forums and should consult with their SW 520 instructors for details.
Fall IP Forum Day is on the first Thursday of November, while Spring IP Forum Day is on the first Thursday of March. A make-up day will be offered to those who pre-registered for the forum and completed pre-forum learning materials but could not participate in small group discussions for unanticipated reasons. If you are interested in earning a digital badge, you must participate in both the fall and spring IP forums.
Please note that the two forums are different but repeat each year, meaning that you should not participate in Spring IPE twice or Fall IPE twice. Students must complete both the Spring and Fall IP forums, along with the online modules, to earn the Digital Badge.
You will sign up and participate in one 90- to 120-minute synchronous workshop. There will be multiple session times available from which you can choose. When you register, you will be given the option to rank which times work for you and your schedule. In order to participate, you must complete the online modules through UBLearns.
Generally speaking, IPE prepares students from different health professions to work in a collaborative, team environment to provide highly effective patient- and population-centered care. Interprofessional teams enhance the quality of patient care, lower health care costs, decrease inpatient lengths of stay and reduce medical errors. Patients receive safer, high-quality care when health professionals work effectively in a team, communicate productively and understand each other's roles.
Specifically, IP Forums allow students to gain knowledge and practice skills on how to work effectively in practice settings that require interprofessional collaboration. This happens in an academic educational setting that promotes shared learning and skills building with students from many disciplines within and beyond health care settings (e.g., medical, dental, public health, physical therapy, occupational therapy, dietetics, pharmacy, athletic training, law, management, counseling psychology, nursing, social work, etc.). In addition, the skills and knowledge related to interprofessional collaboration are closely integrated into all social work competencies indicated in the 2015 CSWE EPAS and are expected to be included in the 2022 EPAS.
At the beginning of the fall and spring semester, you will receive a series of email invitations to sign up for the IP Forums. They will provide a link to registration.
The deadline to sign up is early in each semester due to the logistical complexity of assigning nearly 1,000 students to small group discussion sessions. It also helps to clear or adjust your schedule in advance so you can secure the time. You will be given the option to rank which times work best for you, but please note that we cannot guarantee your first or even second choice slot.
There are two main reasons: One is the logistics of assigning nearly 1,000 students into small discussion groups represented by students from as many disciplines as possible. Another reason is that we want to give students plenty of time to review and complete pre-forum requirements leading up to the IP Forum Day.
No field hours are credited for participating in the IPE forums at this time.
If you are a student interested in participating but it is not required as part of a class, you can still sign up to participate.