ASCO’s new Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice Toolkit, "A Guide to Effective Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice Experiences in Optometry," was introduced to the greater interprofessional education/collaborative practice community through a poster presentation at last month’s Collaborating Across Borders (CAB) VII conference in Indianapolis, IN. The Toolkit, an open-access living document which was approved by the ASCO Board of Directors in June, provides background information on the importance of interprofessional education and collaborative practice; practical information for optometry faculty and administrators on preparing for IPECP at their institution; descriptions of IPECP exemplar projects at ASCO member institutions; and strategies for evaluating program initiatives and sustaining a culture of IPECP.
The authors of the poster are members of ASCO’s 2018-19 IPECP Committee who developed the Toolkit: Linda Casser, OD; John Nishimoto, OD, MBA; Elli Kollbaum, OD; Melissa Zarn, OD; Valerie Quan, OD; Richard Madonna, MA, OD; Candice Turner, OD; and Gary Chu, OD, MPH.
Plans for endorsement and distribution of the Toolkit were discussed at the inaugural meeting of the new ASCO IPECP Special Interest Group, which met last month in conjunction with the 2019 American Academy of Optometry Annual Meeting in Orlando, FL.