UBC Health convenes scholars advancing interprofessional education

UBC Health is pleased to welcome 11 faculty members from across the health professional programs into the new Interprofessional Education (IPE) Scholars Program. The IPE Scholars Program supports faculty members who contribute to the development, delivery, and evaluation of interprofessional learning at UBC.

“Teaching faculty from across the health professional programs play an integral role in advancing the strategic priorities of UBC Health by contributing to the development of our interprofessional learning opportunities,” says Donna Drynan, Director of Education at UBC Health. “This new program recognizes, supports, and engages program partners committed to building, challenging, and improving IPE.”

The program supports faculty members in the development and dissemination of their IPE scholarship and enables them to engage with a network of IPE Scholars to share their ideas and inform a broader research agenda for innovative, interprofessional activities that have the potential to advance progress in health professional education.

This new IPE Scholars initiative brings together faculty members from a breadth of disciplines—audiology and speech sciences, dentistry, dietetics, medical genetics, obstetrics and gynaecology, occupational science and occupational therapy, physical therapy, and social work—and the range of their academic interests demonstrates the abundance of opportunities to advance IPE. Some of these include: the influence of role clarification on other competency domains; professional competencies for clinical learners and preceptors; equity, diversity, inclusion, and justice in health professional education; the integration of oral health competencies into non-dental health professions; and collaborative dysphagia care.

Scholars have met twice so far, and new and innovative opportunities for IPE research are already emerging. Read more about the scholars below.

2023/24 IPE Scholars

	Abiola Adeniyi Title: Postdoctoral Fellow Department: Obstetrics and Gynaecology Faculty: Medicine Areas of Interest / IPE Activities: Developing strategies for integrating primary oral care in the curriculum for non-dental professionals, seeking integrated care models for oral health in general healthcare delivery Abiola Adeniyi is a Postdoctoral Fellow in Global Maternal and Child Health with the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, UBC Vancouver. A dentist by training, she has a master’s degree in public health and a master’s degree in health management policy and planning. She graduated from UBC with a PhD in Craniofacial Science. Her doctoral dissertation examined strategies for an integrated and interprofessional approach to preventive oral care during pregnancy in British Columbia. She loves teaching and received the prestigious UBC Killam teaching award for graduate teaching assistants in 2021.
	Kelly Allison Title: Assistant Professor of Teaching and Chair of Field Education Department: Social Work Faculty: Arts Areas of Interest / IPE Activities: Healthcare, social work, IPE curriculum development, reconceptualizing professionalism for healthcare students Kelly Allison is an Assistant Professor of Teaching and Chair of Field Education in the School of Social Work. As a faculty member in the educational leadership stream, Kelly’s areas of leadership are enhancing experiential learning in social work education, strengthening interprofessional education and mentorship, and support of teaching excellence.
	David Anekwe Title: Assistant Professor of Teaching Department: Physical Therapy Faculty: Medicine Areas of Interest / IPE Activities: Clinical skills in IPE, interdisciplinary pedagogy, interprofessional teamwork and collaboration David Anekwe is an Assistant Professor of Teaching and Academic Site Lead for the UBC Master of Physical Therapy-North program. He holds a PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences from McGill University and completed postdoctoral training at Concordia University. David’s previous research interests were respiratory and exercise physiology, respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation, rehabilitation in critical care, and knowledge translation and synthesis. Since joining UBC in 2020, David has been developing a new area of research related to interdisciplinary pedagogy, student learning, and distributed health professions education.
	Alison Browes Title: Dietetics Education Coordinator Department: Dietetics Faculty: Land and Food Systems Areas of Interest / IPE Activities: Scholarship of teaching and learning for interprofessional competencies, advancing team-based care, teaching collaborative dysphagia care Alison (Ali) Browes, MHA, RD works as an education coordinator and instructor with the UBC Dietetics program. In her role, Ali supports program operations and teaches students in practice education placements. Ali is passionate about interprofessional learning and team-based care and has been an active participant in various UBC Health committees as well as a facilitator for the Integrated Curriculum. Prior to working at UBC, Ali worked in clinical pediatric nutrition, supporting children with feeding and nutritional issues.
	Laura Bulk Title: Assistant Professor of Teaching Department: Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy Faculty: Medicine Areas of Interest / IPE Activities: Justice in health professions education, belonging in higher education and on healthcare teams, critical disability studies across health professions education Laura Yvonne Bulk is a daughter, friend, cousin, tante. She is a Dutch settler to W̱SÁNEĆ territory, a first-generation university student, a disabled scholar, and an occupational therapy educator. Her educational leadership focuses on promoting justice (right relationship) and building spaces of belonging as people from equity-denied groups and in distributed education.
	Marcia Choi Title: Assistant Professor of Teaching and Lead Academic Coordinator of Clinical Education Department: Audiology and Speech Sciences Faculty: Medicine Areas of Interest / IPE Activities: Professional competencies for clinical learners and preceptors, collaborative competencies for interprofessional education and client care Marcia Choi is Assistant Professor of Teaching and Lead Academic Coordinator of Clinical Education in the School of Audiology and Speech Sciences. She holds a Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology from UBC and has an extensive teaching career with students and healthcare professionals as well as being a speech-language pathologist. For her interprofessional teaching, she received the 2014 Award for Excellence in Interprofessional Education and Teaching. Marcia has interest in the application of performance management strategies and reflective practice for developing professional skills in clinical learners. In addition, she remains a champion of interprofessional client care.
	Janet Lundie Title: Lecturer and Professionalism Stream Coordinator Department: Physical Therapy Faculty: Medicine Areas of Interest / IPE Activities: Coordinating the UBC Health Integrated Curriculum for the MPT program, team-based care with older adults, fostering patient autonomy and expertise Janet Lundie’s area of clinical interest is frail older adult rehabilitation. Since catching the ‘teaching bug’ when asked to lecture on limb loss as a relatively new graduate, she has worked in many settings and with different populations as a clinician educator. She believes that educators promote real practice change by providing opportunities for critical thinking and reflection, tools, and resources that support clinicians in daily practice. Janet advocates that patients more than anyone else teach health professionals, who need to be open to learning from patients while supporting their health.
	Tracey Oh Title: Co-Director, UBC Master’s Program in Genetic Counselling Department: Medical Genetics Faculty: Medicine Areas of Interest / IPE Activities: Understanding and assessing effectiveness and excellence in preceptors, engaging and teaching students in clinical judgment, and critical thinking skill activities within an interprofessional context Since becoming a genetic counsellor in 2002, Tracey Oh’s clinical experience has covered a broad range of practice including prenatal, pediatric, and general genetic counselling. Tracey has been involved with clinical training and supervision beginning in 2004 as a genetic counsellor preceptor and as Co-Director for UBC Master’s Program in Genetic Counselling since 2012.
	Jenna Scott Title: Co-Director, UBC Master’s Program in Genetic Counselling Department: Medical Genetics Faculty: Medicine Areas of Interest / IPE Activities: Clinical decision-making / judgment as a team, role definition, competency assessment Jenna Scott has been Program Co-Director for the UBC Master’s Program in Genetic Counselling since 2012 with primary responsibility for curriculum development and student research. Jenna has supervised more than 100 genetic counselling students over the past 27 years. She received the Department of Medical Genetics Clinical Teaching Award in 2006 and the Faculty of Medicine Clinical Excellence in Teaching Award in 2007. Recent professional contributions have focused on competence, including board members for: Accreditation Council for Genetic Counselling; American Board of Genetic Counsellors (ABGC) Certification Exam Committee; ABGC Continuing Competence Committee; Association of Genetic Counselling Program Directors Leadership Development Subcommittee.
	Shimae Soheilipour Title: Clinical Assistant Professor Department: Oral Health Sciences Faculty: Dentistry Areas of Interest / IPE Activities: Integration of oral health competencies into non-dental health professions curricula, fostering Indigenous Cultural Safety and Humility in Oral Health Services by promoting equitable access and cultural awareness Shimae Soheilipour is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Dentistry, holding a PhD in Dental Public Health from King's College in London, UK. She brings rich experience in clinical practice and academia. Joining UBC in 2014 as a postdoctoral fellow, she later became part of the Faculty of Dentistry in 2019. With a deep passion for research and teaching, Shimae has led the interprofessional education program for dentistry since 2020. Committed to the UBC Health Integrated Curriculum Implementation Group, she prioritizes enhancing IPE to equip dental students for excellence in collaborative, patient-centred healthcare across disciplines.
	Julia Wimmers-Klick Title: Senior Lab Instructor, Regional Director of Faculty Development, Portfolio Site Lead Department: Northern Medical Program Faculty: Medicine Areas of Interest / IPE Activities: Integrating IPE in anatomy and other core content areas, designing learning spaces for interprofessional healthcare education from interprofessional stereotypes to uniprofessional identity Born in Austria and raised in Germany, Julia Wimmers-Klick completed her medical studies at the University Innsbruck, Austria and acquired her Doctor Medicinae Universae. She continued her training as a head and neck surgeon and ENT physician, and practiced in otorhinolaryngology (adult and pediatric) at the University Hospital in Innsbruck for more than a decade. In 2007, she moved with her family to BC, and in 2015, she joined the academic faculty in the Northern Medical Program at UBC, focusing on teaching year 1 and 2 medical students across the curriculum, combined with her research emphasis on interprofessional healthcare pedagogy.