ATSU-ASDOH awarded $1.7 million grant to boost interprofessional education
Posted: July 6, 2015
A.T. Still University’s Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health (ATSU-ASDOH) announced today it is the recipient of a $1.7 million, five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to strengthen interprofessional education (IPE) among dental, medical, and physician assistant students.
The grant will support significant expansion of IPE at ATSU. In which specifically, dental students will engage collaboratively in clinical settings with medical students from ATSU’s School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona and physician assistant students from ATSU’s Arizona School of Health Sciences. ATSU will also engage non-dental partner agencies, including the Veterans Affairs Health Care Clinics and Greater Valley Area Health Education Center to facilitate both didactic and clinical team-based care.
“This funding will greatly enrich interprofessional education at ATSU,” said ATSU-ASDOH Dean and Grant Project Director Jack Dillenberg, DDS, MPH. “Funding will support development of clinical curricula and experiences, bringing together three health professions to fully realize Dr. Andrew Taylor Still’s vision of whole person healthcare.”
Interprofessional education is a main focus area at ATSU and is an essential step in preparing collaborative, practice-ready health professionals. Over the course of five years, nearly 8,500 vulnerable and underserved patients will be served by 1,950 students and faculty through the enhanced workforce training initiative supported by the HRSA grant, “Expanding Dental Workforce Training Within Collaborative, Team-Based Care Targeting Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) and Underserved Populations.”
“The future success of healthcare delivery worldwide will be built on a foundation of team-based, collaborative care centered around patients and communities. This grant will make a significant difference in how health professions students are educated,” said ATSU President Craig M. Phelps, DO.
“This grant will create potent opportunities for ATSU students to work together collaboratively in the reality of clinical practice, to learn about, from, and with each other,” said Director of Interprofessional Education and Collaboration Barbara Maxwell, PT, DPT, MSc, Cert. THE, FNAP. “Healthcare delivered by these interprofessional teams will improve the lives of those they serve.”
Acknowledgement and Disclaimer: This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number D85HP20045; grant title Predoctoral Training in General, Pediatric, and Public Health Dentistry and Dental Hygiene; total award amount of $1,736,074; with 54 percent financed with nongovernmental sources. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.