Devin Nickol, M.D., assistant dean for interprofessional education, has been named to the board of directors of the American Interprofessional Health Collaborative (AIHC) as the group looks to expand its activities.
“AIHC has been around for a long time,” Dr. Nickol said. “It shares responsibility for hosting Collaborating Across Borders, the largest and best-known IPE conference in North America, every two years.”
As Dr. Nickol joins the board, the organization is transforming itself into a membership-based organization for people in the field of interprofessional education.
“They’re essentially becoming the societal home for IPE in the U.S.,” Dr. Nickol said.
“This group will move the field forward by serving as a home base,” he said. “AIHC will promote scholarship and help to identify best educational practices, while also making it easier for members to collaborate and share resources.”
One proposal of special interest to Dr. Nickol, who also serves on the group’s programming committee, is a potential set of regional conferences on IPE that would be held throughout the country.
“Omaha would be a great place to host a regional conference in IPE, and we will be pursuing that possibility in the coming months,” he said. He already has discussed the idea with the IPE group at Creighton’s medical school and has seen interest in a collaboration on such a conference.
Dele Davies, M.D., vice chancellor for academic affairs, said Dr. Nickol’s commitment to interprofessional education (IPE) “has helped provide much of the excellent campus leadership and the curriculum for IPE activities we currently have among our students at UNMC.
“I am not surprised that his talents are being increasingly recognized nationally, with roles such as co-editor of the Elsevier-based Journal of Interprofessional Education & Practice and now as board member of the American Interprofessional Health Collaborative. I am confident that his colleagues on the committee will find his knowledge and passion for IPE as beneficial as we do at UNMC in shaping the national and global future of IPE.”
The shift of AIHC to a membership-based professional society is a sign that IPE as a field continues to grow in importance, Dr. Nickol said.
“This is a key point in AIHC’s development, and it’s a sign that UNMC is recognized as a national leader in IPE, for us to be invited to be part of the leadership of AIHC at this crucial time,” Dr. Nickol said. “The decisions that get made in the next year or two are going to shape a lot of the future of AIHC and interprofessional education and practice in this country, so we’re really excited to be involved.”