Summit Brings Collaboration Between Academia, Healthcare Professionals

The Association of Schools Advancing Health Professions (ASAHP), https://www.asahp.org, announced that the June 3 Regional Summit held simultaneously across the country resulted in unprecedented engagement and collaboration between academic institutions and healthcare organizations joining together to create actions that will yield better health outcomes for patients.

The summits were held concurrently in three unique hub site locations across the U.S. and featured an in-person opportunity for dialogue and action between multiple stakeholders from academia and the healthcare industry to discuss specific strategies to enhance health professions education and improve the health of individuals and communities.

Hub sites included:

  • Nova Southeastern University’s Dr. Pallavi Patel College of Health Care Sciences in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, https://healthsciences.nova.edu
  • University of Cincinnati’s College of Allied Health Sciences in Cincinnati, Ohio, https://cahs.uc.edu/
  • University of South Dakota School of Health Sciences in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, https://www.usd.edu/Academics/Colleges-and-Schools/school-of-health-sciences
  • Some of the participating healthcare providers included:
  • HCA Florida Healthcare in Florida, https://www.hcafloridahealthcare.com/
  • Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Ohio, https://www.cincinnatichildrens.org
  • UC Health in Ohio, https://www.uchealth.com
  • The Christ Hospital in Ohio, https://www.thechristhospital.com/locations/locations-hospital
  • Sioux Falls VA in South Dakota, https://www.va.gov/sioux-falls-health-care/
  • Sanford Health in South Dakota, https://www.sanfordhealth.org

Using the ASAHP Clinical Education Task Force recommendations as a foundation, more than 100 participants at the three locations engaged in intentional conversation about issues within the healthcare systems and what actions can be taken to make things better. Approximately two-thirds of summit participants came from ASAHP member academic institutions and one-thirds came from regional clinical partner organizations, reflecting a significant increase in attendance from past summits which had been held in only one location.

Throughout the day, each hub brainstormed on actionable ways to bring the patient voice more to the forefront and improve overall health outcomes. Ideas included: finding common ground and language to create a culture of collaboration; finding creative touchpoints for clinical rotations and mentoring; increasing student input; combining resources to increase productivity; and maintaining strong personal connections with patients and families despite expanded use of technology. The summit culminated in a virtual “Harvest” session where the three hubs shared their local dialogue on a national level.

“By bringing healthcare practitioners into the conversation with academic institutions, we are able to have a measurable impact on the training for health care workers of the future,” said Anthony Breitbach, Ph.D., ATC, FASAHP, FNAP, Saint Louis University, and chair of ASAHP’s Interprofessional Task Force.

Breitbach acted as facilitator for the Regional Summit Harvest Session. “I believe that an organization like ASAHP is uniquely positioned to systematically engage academics and industry and strive for change at the organizational, leadership and individual level.”

Breitbach also announced that ASAHP will follow up with Regional Summit participants in six months to track the outcomes of these interactions and measure progress on the action items.

Posted 06/23/22

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