IPE Team Honored for “Enduring Contributions”
SPHHP students lead the way in micro-credential.
UB’s Interprofessional Education (IPE) Leadership Team has been recognized by the National Academies of Practice with the Interprofessional Group Recognition Award, a national honor for enduring contributions to interprofessional practice and education. The 19-person leadership team develops, implements and assesses UB’s IPE program. Its members also help advance the field through research and national presentations.
Patricia Ohtake, PhD, PT, is assistant vice president for IPE and chair of the IPE Leadership Team. She is also an associate professor in SPHHP’s Physical Therapy program. Other SPHHP members of the team include:
- Nicole Klem, MS, RD, Clinical Nutrition MS Dietetic Internship program director
- Jessica Kruger, PhD, MCHES, clinical assistant professor of community health and health behavior
- Kimberly Krytus, PhD, MPH, MSW, assistant dean and director of the MPH program
- Ryan Krzyzanowicz, DAT, LAT, ATC, clinical associate professor of exercise and nutrition sciences and director of the Athletic Training program
- Kirk Personius, PhD, PT, clinical associate professor of physical therapy
- Janice Tona, PhD, OTR, clinical associate professor of occupational therapy
In addition to SPHHP, schools represented on the 19-person IPE Team include Dental Medicine, Management, Nursing, Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Social Work and Education; the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences; and the College of Arts and Sciences.
A notable accomplishment of the IPE team is the development of the Interprofessional Collaborative Practice Micro-credential program—the largest such program at UB—comprised of three digital badges.
The badges—and the training they represent—matter, according to Ohtake: “Teamwork and collaboration are highly valued by health systems because they lead to improved patient outcomes, improved patient satisfaction, reduced medical error, and reduced health care costs. By having the IPCP Micro-credential, students have verified evidence that they have knowledge and skills in interprofessional collaborative practice desired by many health systems.”
Interestingly, SPHHP students lead the pack when it comes to obtaining the credential. The most recent data show 80 of the 83 students who completed all badges and earned the IPCP Micro-credential are from SPHHP programs: Athletic Training, 4; Dietetic Internship, 3; Occupational Therapy, 5; Physical Therapy, 1; Public Health, 67.
MPH student Ebehitale Imobhio chose to obtain the micro-credential because inter-disciplinary work is something she finds crucial to public health.
“The most memorable part of the experience happened during the virtual forums. I was in groups with students from the spectrum of health-affiliated fields. We were given the same case study and asked how we would best address the client’s issues using skills from our various fields. The experience showed me that as future practitioners in our fields, we have to be willing to work with people with different areas of expertise so that our clients receive the best care and have the best health outcomes,” she said.