Now in its ninth year, Health Professions Education (HPE) Day centered around the theme of advancing interprofessional education, health equity and innovation in health professions education and practice.
The Michigan League was the place to be on April 2, 2024 as educators, staff and learners from across the University of Michigan’s three campuses and Michigan Medicine gathered for HPE Day. The over 250 registrants were eager to engage in conversations and learn more during a series of panels, presentations, research posters and networking events.
This year’s event was also part of Michigan Medicine Healthcare Equity Month, an event series dedicated to raising awareness, encouraging action and showcasing efforts around systemic health care inequities experienced by historically marginalized and underrepresented groups.
“Partnering with Michigan Medicine for our 9th annual HPE day was an even better day than we imagined!” shared Caren M. Stalburg, M.D., M.A., associate professor in the Department of Learning Health Sciences, physician in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and faculty lead for the HPE Day planning team.
“The coincidence of Healthcare Equity Month in April provided a fantastic opportunity for us to think about and discuss equitable and inclusive health care, particularly as it relates to education of health care professionals.”
We’ve included some highlights from the day below, but you can check out more by viewing photos and watching the livestream recording.
Keynote panel: leveraging IPE to create equitable and inclusive health organizations
This year’s keynote panel brought together experts from the Office of Health Equity & Inclusion (OHEI), the School of Social Work, the School of Public Health and the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Facilitated by Steve Vinson, MHSA, DEI program manager at Michigan Medicine, the panel explored the American Hospital Association’s health equity roadmap, which contains six levers of transformation and is the driving force behind OHEI’s DEI 2.0.
A key takeaway from the panel was the need to build a bridge between academia and community spaces. Panelist Erin Khang, M.S.W., who recently moved from clinical work to academia, noted that there is currently a disconnect between what we are teaching students in academic spaces and what they walk into when beginning clinical work. In order to do better, we must be willing to push back on what’s always been done in both these spaces.
Panelist Kristen Howard, J.D., pointed out that those in academia often do not understand the reality of what it’s like to work in community spaces and should be thoughtful about how to approach community groups, who may use different language from that in the health equity roadmap.
For student and panelist Annie Clark, a lot of her academic work has emphasized the history and theory around health equity, but not much has been offered in the way of practical experience or tactical tools. Clark has had to seek this out on her own but believes more collaboration opportunities should be implemented through classwork. One positive academic experience that stood out to Clark was her participation in the Longitudinal Interprofessional Family-based Experience (LIFE), which allowed her to interact with students from different health sciences schools in a fun and meaningful way. She believes more interprofessional experiences like LIFE should be available to students to prepare them for collaborating with their peers in professional settings.
At UM-Dearborn, panelist Leo Kattari, Ph.D., M.S.W., discussed how he is preparing students to understand what it means to be part of a community through a capstone course made up of pre-health majors. Students are learning to collaborate interprofessionally while also integrating voices from the community within their work. As students encounter conflict and learn to problem solve within these spaces, they are also preparing to work in future professional roles.
Khang posted on social media, “Grateful to share space and learn from so many interprofessional colleagues dedicated to improving health equity!”
To learn more about the panelists, read their biographies in the HPE Day program.
Presentation by Rajesh Mangrulkar: “Where are we now?”
Rajesh Mangrulkar, M.D., director of the Center for Interprofessional Education (C-IPE), presented an update on C-IPE’s progress throughout the past year and what lies ahead in the next phase of work.
Mangrulkar identified four major stakeholders who are key to C-IPE’s mission: learners, educators and practitioners, patients and communities, and systems that improve health. Key progress items from the past year included endorsement of a core curriculum, standardization and deployment of IPE assessment tools, creation and launch of online educator development modules and the launch of the Interprofessional Community Health Collaborative.
As C-IPE enters Stage 2 of its strategic blueprint, priorities will include:
- Implementing and scaling the core curriculum.
- Focusing innovation on community health, research, pre-health learners and systems transformation.
- Enhancing the visibility of educator and learner development and engagement through reports and certification.
- Launching the “stadium” of IPE Community of Practice and scholars.
You can learn more about the Center for IPE’s progress in this two-pager.
Posters, Lightning Talks and IPE Awards
Nearly 70 research posters were on display, covering topics such as community engagement, health care equity, innovation and interprofessional education. Attendees had an opportunity to network before returning to the ballroom for lunch, where they heard remarks by Okeoma Mmeje, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology and associate chief clinical officer for health equity.
Three lightning talk presenters shared their work and answered questions from the audience. Presentation topics included an overview of the IPE community health pilot, the Interprofessional Community Health Collaborative; phase two of the dental navigator pilot from the School of Dentistry; and a discussion of the healthcare equity consult service offered at Michigan Medicine. Each presentation offered a deeper look at projects happening throughout the U-M system and inspired conversation among the audience.
The event concluded with the presentation of the IPE Awards for Innovation and Excellence, where were presented to two teams for their outstanding contributions to advancing interprofessional education and practice.
“HPE Day is always a terrific day for the university and for anyone who is passionate and creative about educating future members of our health profession,” shared Mangrulkar. “I walked away even more committed to our mission and I’m confident others did as well.”
More Resources and Info
- Subscribe: Sign up for the HPE Day mailing list.
- Contact: [email protected].
- View more photos from the day: Facebook.
- View a livestream of the presentations.