Springfield College Hosts Faculty Development Program

More than 80 health care professionals representing eight surrounding college and universities recently collaborated at Springfield College as part of the Healthcare Interprofessional Education Committee of Pioner Valley’s Faculty Development Program. The Healthcare Interprofessional Education Committee of Pioneer Valley (HIPE of PV), established in August 2013, is designed to address the needs of interprofessional education (IPE) amongst faculty and students in the health care field. 

“The faculty development program was held to initiate interprofessional learning and education across health care disciplines surrounding the Pioneer Valley, as well as to meet the IPE accreditation standards of our individual programs,” said Springfield College Assistant Professor of Physical Therapy and HIPE of PV faculty development program chair, Elizabeth Montemagni.

Headlining the program was Baystate Medical Center Chief Academic Officer Dr. Kevin Hinchey. Hinchey’s lecture challenged the health care professionals in attendance to pursue avenues of integrating IPE into the curriculum to close the gap between health education and practice settings. This would produce a new generation of trained and skilled interprofessional team clinicians.

“Important concepts of IPE explored during the program included understanding professional health care roles and responsibilities as the basis of increasing IPE in educational programs, and experiencing how an IPE team works together to provide team-based patient care,” added Montemagni.

The HIPE of PV consists of faculty members from Springfield College and other area colleges.