Awarded by the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education to the Global Forum on Innovation in Health Professional Education.

The National Center is pleased to announce the 2021 Pioneer Award recipient, the Global Forum on Innovation in Health Professional Education. The Pioneer Award recognizes an interprofessional practice and education pioneer individual or organization for the foundational role they have played in advancing the field.

The Global Forum on Innovation in Health Professional Education (Global Forum) is an ongoing, convening activity of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that brings together stakeholders from multiple nations and professions to network, discuss and illuminate issues within health professional education. Currently, there are over 50 appointed members to the Forum who are academic experts and health professionals representing 17 different disciplines from 7 countries. Of these members, 37 are sponsors.

Since its inception in 2012, the Global Forum has used its guiding principles to direct much of the work of the Forum. These principles emphasize engaging students, being patient- and person-centered, and creating an environment of learning with and from partners outside of the United States. Members of the Forum gather twice a year to attend Forum-sponsored events that consider these principles during the agenda planning process. Topics for these activities are selected and developed by the Forum members themselves at separate meetings of the Forum.

The Forum exemplifies the spirit of the Pioneer Award in the leadership they have provided through the development of innovative models to address the major issues in health professions education. The Forum’s many publications have provided guideposts for the field of interprofessional practice and education, including the formative 2015 report, “Measuring the Impact of Interprofessional Education on Collaborative Practice and Patient Outcomes.”

View the video below to hear a short interview between National Center founding director Barbara Brandt, and Patricia Cuff, who accepted the Pioneer Award on behalf of the Forum.