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Introduction¹

This workshop, said Barbara Brandt, director of the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education (the National Center), which co-hosted the event, will explore “the intersection of health professions education and practice.” Both sectors, she continued, are working toward the same goal of improving the health of patients and populations, without compromising the mental stability and well-being of the workforce or its learners. However, while education and practice have the same goal, there is a need for greater alignment between the sectors to more fully realize these desired outcomes. For example, said Brandt, educators, practitioners, and administrators must learn to adapt and respond to the growing role of technology within a wider context in order to most effectively apply higher education within health systems.

These messages of cross-sector collaboration opened the joint workshop, which brought together members of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Global Forum on Innovation in Health Professional Education with affiliates of the National Center. Held on November 13 and 14, 2018, in Washington, DC, this open event was titled Strengthening the Connection Between Health Professions Education and Practice, and offered a unique opportunity for both groups to

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¹ The planning committee’s role was limited to planning the workshop, and the Proceedings of a Joint Workshop was prepared by the rapporteurs as a factual account of what occurred at the workshop. Statements, recommendations, and opinions expressed are those of individual presenters and participants and are not necessarily endorsed or verified by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. They should not be construed as reflecting any group consensus.

explore urgent issues. The objective of the workshop, said Brandt, was to explore ways of “effectively educating the needed health workforce in settings appropriate for high quality clinical practice, while also assessing the necessary investments and potential outcomes of new models of care with learning.” (See Box 1-1 for the full Statement of Task.)

Brandt underscored one of the core beliefs of the National Center, which is that health delivery systems and the health professions education must transform simultaneously. Both systems, she said, need to shift toward a more interprofessional, outcomes-based model. While many people agree that such a shift is necessary, added Brandt, there are a wide range

of opinions on how to make it happen. This workshop was designed to explore the range of opinions by examining different models and by facilitating interprofessional and cross-sectoral conversations.

The 1.5-day workshop began with presentations on a series of topics, and ended with participants dividing into breakout groups. These small group discussions allowed participants to engage with colleagues from other professions and across sectors while encouraging in-depth exploration of the topics. Appendix A lays out the agenda set up by the workshop planning committee (see the list of planning committee members). This Proceedings of a Joint Workshop follows the general structure of the agenda. Chapter 2 summarizes the presentations and conversations on workforce and training data. It also explores the challenges of making data-driven changes in workforce and education. Chapter 3 focuses on patients’ roles within care and education innovations, as well as the importance of keeping the patient at the center of a rapidly changing system. Chapter 4 explores the role of health care in developing the health workforce. Chapter 5 captures the presentations and conversations about two innovative models of health professional training: one based in a prison setting and one based in public housing. Chapter 6 summarizes discussions raised around the small group conversations, which explored ways to support the next generation of educators. Chapter 7 builds on Day 1 discussions by dividing the participants into two tracks: Track One explored strengthening connections among all stakeholders within and across education and practice, whereas Track Two looked at preparing health professionals to work in an evolving health system. This final chapter ends with messages of urgency expressed by individual participants after engaging in 1.5 days of intense dialogue on how best to strengthen the connections between health professions education and practice. It is noted in Chapter 6 but should be underscored for the entire proceedings that any suggestions made throughout the workshop and captured in this Proceedings of a Joint Workshop were made by individual participants and should not be interpreted as consensus opinions or recommendations.

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