08/11/10 – Anschutz Medical Campus Emphasizes Inter-professional Education

by Mark Deutchman, MD

University of Colorado Denver
Professor, Department of Family Medicine
Director, Rural Track, School of Medicine
Mark Deutchman, MD, University of Colorado Denver, Professor, Department of Family Medicine, Director, Rural Track, School of Medicine
In Colorado, where tuition is high and state support for higher education is low, innovation in education is critical to help prepare health professions students to provide health care in the 21st century. To this end, the new Anschutz Medical Campus at the University of Colorado Denver fosters collaboration among students, researchers and clinicians to advance and integrate clinical care, education and research.

For more than 10 years, we've emphasized teamwork and inter-professional cooperation campus-wide, including a shared bioethics curriculum attended by students and faculty of all disciplines. This concept is now being expanded to provide students from various disciplines more opportunities to learn together so that they will be better able to communicate, appreciate each others' skills and work side-by-side to provide excellent health care to patients when and where it is needed.

In funding the startup and maintenance of the School of Medicine's Rural Track six years ago, The Colorado Trust paved the way for additional support by other foundations to strengthen our educational processes, and curriculum and program development. The Rural Track attracts students interested in rural medical practice and provides them additional experience and support during their on- and off-campus training to nurture and encourage that goal.

With funders' support, that same approach is being implemented by the Physician Assistant program, the schools of Pharmacy, Public Health and Dental Medicine and the College of Nursing. These participating programs are adjusting schedules, curriculum components and faculty priorities so that their students interested in rural practice can share inter-professional classroom learning and off-campus clinical experience.

Simultaneously, the campus has embarked on an ambitious plan to place all students in inter-professional teams during their training. In short, the Anschutz Medical Campus – serving some 500,000 patients each year – is on the forefront of preparing students to practice in new models of health care delivery where interdisciplinary teams work together to achieve improved health outcomes.

Let us know your thoughts on how inter-professional education will help ensure better provision of health care in Colorado's rural communities. For more information, please contact Mark Deutchman, MD.

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