IPE: Limitless Opportunities for Libraries

Abstract

OBJECTIVES This poster describes the role of academic librarians in the planning and implementation of a formal interprofessional education program at a large, multidisciplinary health sciences campus. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS/RESOURCES Faculty members from the seven professional schools and multiple administrative offices at a large health sciences and human services university formed an interprofessional education task force to implement a campus-wide program for students and faculty. BRIEF DESCRIPTION In 2010, the new campus president challenged the campus to adopt the concept of interprofessional education (IPE). To carry out this mandate, he appointed a task force of academic deans from each school, along with two faculty librarians. The task force prepared an environmental scan and produced a white paper on the topic. Based on her contributions to the task force, one author was appointed to the IPE Strategic Implementation Committee, which took the recommendations of the task force and move forward. Our participation involved helping to organize campus-wide IPE Day events, the creation of an IPE web resources guide that includes results from an ongoing PubMed search, a presentation on successful IPE centers in the United States, and close working relationships with senior faculty and deans.