ANN ARBOR—Leaders of a major effort to transform health sciences education at the University of Michigan have launched a new center that brings together the seven health science schools, with a goal to prepare health professionals of the future.

The Michigan Center for Interprofessional Education will serve more than 4,000 U-M students and expand on a program more than a year in the making.

Offering interprofessional education is not new but the scope and scale of Michigan’s program, a national and international effort involving all of its health sciences schools and a highly ranked health system, make it unique, leaders say.

“We represent a very broad spectrum of health science educators from nationally recognized schools that address most of the health issues confronting our society today. We also are affiliated with a large, highly regarded academic health center in which we can develop optimal collaborative care models that our students can participate in and apply their new training,” said Frank Ascione, founding director of the center and former dean of the U-M College of Pharmacy. “All of our schools are recognized within their disciplines as leaders and innovators, which is likely to result in new ideas being applied to this movement.”

The interprofessional education project, designed to break down the traditional silos that separate health professions by creating opportunities for collaborative and engaged learning across disciplines, will be managed by the center with collaboration from the health science deans. The end goal is to prepare professionals who will work more effectively together to improve patient care.

The program is supported by a five-year, $3 million grant from the provost’s Transforming Learning for the Third Century Initiative, which is matched with an additional $3 million from the deans of the schools: School of Dentistry, School of Kinesiology, Medical School, School of Nursing, College of Pharmacy, School of Public Health and School of Social Work.

“Our university has long engaged in interdisciplinary research and practice,” Ascione said. “We are now committing significant resources to make sure that the same collaboration exists in the education of our students. Our goal is to ensure that every eligible health professional student will gain the knowledge and skills to be an effective member of the collaborative health care teams of the future.”

Prior to the center launch, engaged faculty, staff and students already have made significant achievements. Highlights include an award-winning team-based decision-making course that brought together more than 250 students and 11 faculty from five schools, the first U-M-only massive open online course (MOOC) which engaged more than 800 health-focused students in discussions around health policy, and student-driven efforts to create two student organizations focused on interprofessional collaboration.

More information:

• Team-based decision-making course
• U-M-only massive open online course
• Student organizations
• Michigan Center for Interprofessional Education
• Transforming Learning for the Third Century Initiative