Background: Increasing evidence suggests that cross-disciplinary teamwork benefits patient care, reduces provider burden, improves clinical team performance, and is critical to the prevention of medical error (Mayo & Woolley, 2016). Health care teams can achieve more than any one profession can alone, yet they are often fraught with unacknowledged tensions impeding efficacy. Such tensions begin in health education where barriers to interprofessional collaborative learning (IPCL) are both implicit (e.g. unexamined assumptions, stereotypes, and hierarchies), and explicit (e.g. certain thoughts and beliefs are taught in ways that represent historical biases, assume power differentials, and impede possibilities for authentic team-based care (Sanchez, Tran-Reina, Ackerman-Barger, Phung, Molla & Ton, 2020). Implicit biases impact provider-patient relationships, care efficacy, and student-instructor relationships (McClinton & Laurencin, 2020); discrimination at all levels manifests in perpetuation of health disparities, which have become even more pronounced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Presentation: This lightning talk brings together colleagues from medicine, behavioral health, and education to explore power differentials, stereotypes, and unspoken biases in health education that undermine IPCL efficacy. IPCL core competencies recognize the complementarity and equal status of professional disciplines and the benefits of intentional teamwork. Psychological safety and full inclusion are intrinsic to optimal team functioning and their absence is detrimental to effective communication and patient-centered care. Recently concepts of humility (Wang, Liu, & Zhu, 2018), empathy (Michaelic, Schneider, & Mackenzie, 2021), antiracism (Crear-Perry, Maybank, Keeys, Mitchell & Godbolt, 2020), and trauma-informed practice (McClinton & Laurencin, 2020) have been associated with ensuring equitable and effective team performance. Presenters will expand upon contemporary teamwork essentials; describe barriers to achieving interprofessional equity; highlight evidence linking bias to health disparities; and offer recommendations to address them. We will conclude with a discussion of ways to address bias and power in IPCL with students and community partners, and themes affecting future practice.
In support of improving patient care, this activity is planned and implemented by The National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education Office of Interprofessional Continuing Professional Development (OICPD). The OICPD is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.
As a Jointly Accredited Provider, the OICPD is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. The OICPD maintains responsibility for this course. Social workers completing this course receive continuing education credits.
This activity was planned by and for the healthcare team, and learners will receive Interprofessional Continuing Education (IPCE) credit for learning and change.
Physicians: The National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education designates this live activity for AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™.
Physician Assistants: The American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) accepts credit from organizations accredited by the ACCME.
Nurses: Participants will be awarded contact hours of credit for attendance at this workshop.
Nurse Practitioners: The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Program (AANPCP) accepts credit from organizations accredited by the ACCME and ANCC.
Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians: This activity is approved for contact hours.
Social Workers: As a Jointly Accredited Organization, the National Center is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. The National Center maintains responsibility for this course. Social workers completing this course receive continuing education credits.
IPCE: This activity was planned by and for the healthcare team, and learners will receive Interprofessional Continuing Education (IPCE) credits for learning and change
