Teaching Students Team-based Care

Interprofessional Education (IPE) at the Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences simulates the real world of health care. By learning how to work effectively in teams with diverse disciplines, students graduate prepared to work in a team-based environment once they begin work in their respective fields.

Recommended by the Institute of Medicine and the World Health Organization, IPE has the potential to help:
  • Improve quality of patient care
  • Lower costs
  • Decrease length of stay
  • Reduce medical errors

Thanks to our wide range of health profession programs, we are uniquely qualified to deliver programs and courses that provide students with experience working across disciplines. In just one recent example, students from nursing, medical laboratory sciences, nutritional sciences, exercise physiology and public health worked as a team at Summit ElderCare in Lowell to provide quality care for residents.

  • Students from different health majors – nursing, public health, nutritional sciences, medical laboratory science and physical therapy – participate in a simulation to learn how to work on a team for the benefit of a patient (acted by a UMass Lowell theatre major).

IPE Faculty Fellows Champions for Student Success

The IPE Fellows include a group of faculty representing a variety of programs across the College of Health Sciences. The faculty are champions for IPE advancement through: advocacy, curriculum changes and mentoring faculty and students. The following IPE Faculty Fellows increase awareness and knowledge for interprofessional opportunities in academic, research, and community settings:

Senior Fellows:
  • Sandra Mote, Solomont School of Nursing
  • Renee Barrile, Biomedical and Nutritional Sciences Department
  • JoAnn Moriarty-Baron, Physical Therapy and Kinesiology Department
Fellows:
  • Michelle Williams, Biomedical and Nutritional Sciences Department
  • Casey León, Public Health Department
  • Lynne Gauthier, Physical Therapy Department
  • Kristen McDonald, Solomont School of Nursing

Students for Interprofessional Education Club

Students for Interprofessional Education (SIPE) is an organization led by students from each of the majors in the Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences who are passionate about improving the future of patient care through interprofessional collaboration.

The main purpose of SIPE is to educate students across campus about the importance of interprofessional education (IPE). SIPE not only raises awareness about the IPE opportunities open to UML students on and off campus, but works closely with faculty, staff and local organizations interested in improving healthcare.

Each year, members of SIPE are an integral part of interprofessional case competitions, patient simulations and experiential-learning opportunities. Through joining SIPE, students are able to:

  • gain a greater understanding of the different roles on a healthcare team
  • practice their communication skills on a healthcare team
  • network with others in the healthcare field
  • become an active leader of IPE on campus
  • be considered for IPE-related scholarships

To join, send an email to umlSIPE@gmail.com.