April 7, 2017

IPE Office Awards Inaugural Small Grants to Promote Collaborative Practice

From the Academic Affairs newsletter – spring 2017

The Office of Interprofessional Education (IPE) recently awarded five grants totaling just over $36,000 in its inaugural IPE Small Grant Program.

The IPE office established the program to promote interprofessional education and collaborative practice at UAMS. The call for submissions in fall 2016 asked for proposals that stimulated scholarship of interprofessional collaboration, in areas of clinical care, education or research.

A panel that included the provost, the three IPE directors, the chair of the IPE Research Subcommittee and additional faculty members representing the UAMS Integrated Clinical Enterprise (ICE) reviewed the submissions. The grants were announced in January.

Grant awards (and principal investigators) for submissions focused on collaborative practice included:

  • An Innovative, Interprofessional Education and Training Platform to Increase Hand Hygiene Compliance at UAMS, PI: Jennifer Hunt, M.D. ($6,000)
  • Geriatrics-Focused Interprofessional Training (G-FIT) in the Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH), PI: Paula Podrazik, M.D. ($10,900)
  • Syphilis Testing Result Education and Counseling Simulation, PI: Letycia Catalina Núñez Argote, M.P.H., CPH, MLS ($5,800)

Grant awards (and principal investigators) for submissions focused on interprofessional education included:

  • Interprofessional education curriculum development to enhance communication skills among health professionals interacting with transgender and gender nonconforming patients, clients and community members, PI: Julie Ginn Moretz ($10,900)
  • Research Advocacy Simulation — A learning activity that highlights the role of basic science research in UAMS’ mission of advancing knowledge in areas of human health and disease and translating and accelerating discoveries into health improvements, PI: Mari Davidson, Ph.D. ($2,500)

The Office of Interprofessional Education intends to make the grant program yearly, with another call for submissions anticipated this fall.