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IPE Resources

 

IPE Accreditation Standards

 

Below are accreditation standards for the various professions across TAMU Health.  Notably, accreditors for all TAMU Health colleges/schools are members of the Health Professions Accreditors Collaborative (HPAC).  This organization was established in 2014 to ensure that: 1) individual or varying IPE accreditation requirements do not present barriers to the development of quality IPE, and 2) graduates of health profession education programs are prepared for interprofessional collaborative practice.  In 2019, HPAC and the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education released Guidance on Developing Quality Interprofessional Education for the Health Professions.  "The goals of the guidance are to facilitate the preparation of health professional students for interprofessional collaborative practice through accreditor collaboration and to provide consensus guidance to enable institutions to develop, implement, and evaluate systematic IPE approaches and IPE plans."

 

Accreditors

Standards/Requirements/Competencies

Dentistry

Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA)

 

 

 

 

 

Accreditation Standards For Dental Education Programs (pre-doctoral) (2023)

 

2-20 Graduates must be competent in communicating and collaborating with other members of the health care team to facilitate the provision of health care. (p.28)

 

Intent: In attaining competence, students should understand the roles of members of the health care team and have educational experiences, particularly clinical experiences, that involve working with other healthcare professional students and practitioners. Students should have educational experiences in which they coordinate patient care within the health care system relevant to dentistry.

 

Accreditation Standards for Dental Hygiene Education Programs (2025)

 

2-15 Graduates must be competent in interprofessional communication, collaboration and interaction with other members of the health care team to support comprehensive patient care.(p.26)

 

Intent:  Students should understand the roles of members of the health-care team and have interprofessional educational experiences that involve working with other health-care professional students and practitioners. The ability to communicate verbally and in written form is basic to the safe and effective provision of oral health services.

Medicine

Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME)

 

 

Functions and Structure of a Medical School. Standards for Accreditation of Medical Education Programs Leading to the MD Degree (2025; effective 7/1/26)

 

7.9 Interprofessional Collaborative Skills

 

The faculty of a medical school ensure that the core curriculum of the medical education program prepares medical students to function collaboratively on health care teams that include health professionals from other disciplines as they provide coordinated services to patients. These curricular experiences include practitioners and/or students from the other health professions. (p. 11)

Nursing

Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE)

 

Standards for Accreditation of Baccalaureate and Graduate Nursing Programs (2024; effective 1/1/25)

 

III-J The curriculum includes planned experiences that foster interprofessional collaborative practice. (p. 21)

 

Elaboration: The program provides planned didactic, simulation, and/or clinical practice experiences that prepare students to engage in interprofessional collaborative practice. The program affords opportunities for students to collaborate with a variety of individuals and/or organizations that enable students to develop the necessary communication and negotiation skills to enhance patient outcomes.

Pharmacy

Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE)

 

Professional Program Leading to the Doctor of Pharmacy Degree (2024; effective 7/1/25)

  

2.1.h Interprofessional collaboration (Collaborator) – The graduate is able to actively engage and contribute as a healthcare team member by demonstrating core interprofessional competencies. (p. 6)

 

2.3.a Interprofessional team education – To advance collaboration and quality of patient care, the didactic and experiential curricula include opportunities for students to learn about, from, and with other members of the interprofessional healthcare team. Through interprofessional education activities, students gain an understanding of the abilities, competencies, and scope of practice of team members. Some, but not all, of these educational activities may be simulations or simulated experiences. IPE activities should be guided by the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) competencies. (p. 9)

 

2.3.b Interprofessional team practice – All students participate as a healthcare team member in providing patient care and contributing to therapeutic decision-making. Students participate in both didactic and experiential educational activities with a variety of types of prescribers and their students as well as other professional healthcare team members and their students. (p. 9)

 

3.1.a Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience (IPPE) expectations – IPPEs involve students in common contemporary U.S. practice models, including interprofessional practice involving shared patient care decision making, professional ethics and expected behaviors, and patient care activities. IPPEs are structured and sequenced to intentionally develop in students a clear understanding of what constitutes exemplary pharmacy practice in the U.S. prior to beginning the APPE curriculum. (p. 10)

 

3.2.d Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience (APPE) – Required APPEs are completed in the United States or its territories or possessions and occur in four practice settings: (1) community pharmacy; (2) ambulatory care; (3) hospital/health system pharmacy; and (4) inpatient adult patient care. The majority of required APPEs must involve interprofessional communication and collaboration. Nontraditional Doctor of Pharmacy (NTPD) pathways need to demonstrate that all students have completed or met the four required APPEs using a formalized faculty assessment that documents achievement of the outcomes of the four required APPEs. All aspects of any program offering an NTPD pathway will be assessed in the self-study process and reviewed by onsite evaluation team members during the program’s comprehensive evaluation. (p. 11)

 

5.1.a Sufficient faculty – The college or school has a sufficient number of core faculty members to effectively address...Interprofessional Collaboration...(p. 18)

 

6.1.b Physical facilities’ attributes – The college or school has access to physical facilities that provide adequate...Space that facilitates interaction of administrators, faculty, students, and interprofessional collaborators. (p. 21)

 

Appendix 1 - Required Elements of the Didactic Doctor of Pharmacy Curriculum - Social/Administrative/Behavioral Sciences

 

Healthcare Systems - Examination of U.S. health systems and contemporary reimbursement models in which patient-centered and/or population-based care is provided and paid for...to ensure patient safety and deliver coordinated interprofessional care services. (p. 29)

 

Professional Communication - Analysis and practice of verbal, non-verbal, and written communication strategies that promote effective interpersonal dialog and understanding to advance specific patient care, education, advocacy, and/or interprofessional collaboration goals. Exploration of technology-based communication tools and their impact on healthcare delivery, healthcare access, healthcare information, and patient empowerment. (p. 30)

Public Health

Council on Education in Public Health (CEPH)

Accreditation Criteria - Schools of Public Health & Public Health Programs (2024)

  

D12. Bachelor’s Degree Cross-Cutting Concepts & Experiences

 

The overall undergraduate curriculum and public health major curriculum expose students to concepts and experiences necessary for success in the workplace, further education, and lifelong learning. Students are exposed to these concepts through any combination of learning experiences and co-curricular experiences. These concepts include...teamwork and leadership. (p.31)

 

D2. MPH Foundational Competencies

 

D2.16. Apply leadership and/or management principles to address a relevant issue (p. 20)

 

Footnote: Such principles may include creating a vision, empowering others, fostering collaboration, and guiding decision making.

 

D2.17. Apply negotiation and mediation skills to address organizational or community challenges (p. 20)

 

Footnote: Negotiation and mediation,” in this competency, refers to the set of skills needed when a common solution is required among parties with conflicting interests and/or different desired outcomes. Such skills extend beyond the level of negotiation required in a successful intra-group process; effective communication within a work group or team is more closely related to competency.

 

 

D2.21. Interprofessional and/or Intersectoral Practice: Integrate perspectives from other sectors and/or professions to promote and advance population health. (p. 20)

 

Footnote:  This competency requires direct engagement (place- or distance-based) between the student and an individual or individuals in a profession or sector other than public health; students must combine the external sector/profession’s perspective and/or knowledge with their own public health training to complete a task, solve a problem, etc.. Role-playing, in which public health students assume the identity of an individual from another profession or sector to which they do not already belong, is not an acceptable. (p.20)

 

D3. DrPH Foundational Competencies

 

D3.6. Integrate knowledge, approaches, methods, values, and potential contributions from multiple professions, sectors, and systems in addressing public health problems. (p. 22)

 

D3.8. Facilitate shared decision making through negotiation and consensus-building methods (p. 22)

 

D3.11. Assess one’s own strengths and weaknesses in leadership capacities, including cultural proficiency

 

D3.17. Propose interprofessional and/or intersectoral team approaches to improving public health. (p. 22)

 

E3.5. Faculty Instructional Effectiveness.  School- or program-level outcomes include courses that are team-taught with interprofessional perspectives. (p. 43)

 

 


 

Accreditation Research

Interprofessional Education Accreditation Standards in the USA: 2015 Update Poster by Joseph A. Zorek, PharmD & Cynthia L. Raehl, PharmD

Zorek, J. A. & Raehl, C. L. (2013). Interprofessional education accreditation standards in the USA: A comparative analysis. Journal of Interprofessional Care 27(2): 123-130.

 

Other IPE Programs

United States

Australia

Canada

Ireland

New Zealand

 

 

texas task force

The Texas A&M University Health Science Center is a member of the Texas Interprofessional Education (IPE) Task Force. Founded in 2015, the charge of the Texas IPE Task Force is to share institutional IPE initiatives, experiences, and lessons learned across the state of Texas.

Texas IPE Task Force Chair: Renee J. Bogshutz, PhD, CCC-SLP, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

Email: texasipetaskforce@gmail.com

Current participating institutions include: