A team approach is the future of health care because it optimizes patient care and outcomes. To fulfill that mission, the University of Missouri-Kansas City has been adding shared interprofessional education to its Hospital Hill Campus schools of Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing and Health Studies, and Pharmacy.

Interprofessional education involves students from two or more disciplines learning together, with the charge of cultivating collaborative practice to provide patient-centered care. UMKC is implementing an interprofessional education instructional activity from 3 to 6 p.m. Feb. 21, with synchronized classes across the Hospital Hill Campus professional programs and buildings. More than 560 UMKC students and 70 faculty and staff members will take part.

During the class, pre-assigned groups of students from seven disciplines — dentistry, dental hygiene, medicine, physician assistant, nursing, graduate nursing, and pharmacy — will learn about patient safety and solve problems in small and large groups. This will include teleconferencing with UMKC School of Pharmacy students on the University of Missouri campus in Columbia, Mo.

“This won’t be just a one-day event,” said Stefanie Ellison, MD, associate dean and associate professor at the School of Medicine and one of the curricular organizers. “This will create a strong foundation for interprofessional education and collaboration at UMKC.”

“While interprofessional education is required by a number of accrediting boards, large scale instructional activities are rare, making this instructional activity unique,” said Linda Garavalia, professor and associate dean for academic affairs at the School of Pharmacy and another of the curricular organizers. “UMKC has been awarded interprofessional education grants for clinical experience but that involves a smaller number of students. This will add interprofessional education to classroom learning for a large number of students.”