AACP joins other healthcare professions to improve education collaboration

The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) has formally joined 5 other national health professions to create the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC), a new national organization that will focus on improved integration and coordination of the education of pharmacists and other healthcare workers to provide more collaborative care.

The effort that led to IPEC began 3 years ago and also resulted in the release of a May 2011 report, Core Competencies for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice. 

The report identified individual-level core competencies needed by all health professionals to provide integrated, patient-centered care.

“The AACP contribution to this unique collaborative is attention to pharmacy educators as key players on the healthcare team,” Lucinda L. Maine, PhD, RPh, executive vice president and CEO of AACP, said in a joint press release. “Because proper use of medicine cuts across the entire spectrum of healthcare services, it’s essential that pharmacy students learn-and share their knowledge-in an interprofessional academic environment.”

The other founding members are the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, the American Dental Education Association, the Association of American Medical Colleges, and the Association of Schools of Public Health. 

According to the joint statement, IPEC’s goal will be to provide leadership around national initiatives to advance interprofessional education and share information on best practices and collaborative practice innovations.

In May, IPEC will sponsor its first faculty development institute, “Building Your Foundation for Interprofessional Education.”  Registration will open on February 22.