Who We Are
Recognized as a national IPE leader, UNE is the only institution in New England that is part of the National Center for Interprofessional Education and Practice’s prestigious Innovation Network.
Our mission is to prepare students to work collaboratively, across disciplines, to achieve more successful outcomes as members of clinical and community teams.
Our work touches every health professions program at UNE and many of the arts, sciences, research, and humanities programs. We foster an inclusive environment where students, faculty, and community partners learn together to advance effective health practices and improve the quality of life for all people.
What is Interprofessional Education?
Interprofessional education takes place when students from two or more disciplines learn with, from, and about each other to better understand different professions’ roles and expertise, improve communication, enhance teamwork, and advance future workforce skills.
IPE began with health professions, with students from different programs being taught to work together as part of larger, interdisciplinary healthcare teams. This approach has proven to produce successful patient outcomes, and the model is now expanding so it can be applied to broader situations.
Collaborative practice is the professional application of IPE, with people from different backgrounds and with different areas of expertise working together to deliver a higher quality of service and care to achieve common goals.
Teamwork allows you to achieve more together than any one person could achieve alone.
Ashley Carroll ’20
Why UNE
I chose UNE because of the clinical track for my M.S.W. The courses were geared towards the field and the requirements to become licensed after graduation. UNE also provided the online atmosphere I needed, as I am a mother of four and my husband is in the military. The online atmosphere allowed me to continue my education no matter my location.
UNE provided the appropriate course work that allowed me to learn about social work, the different therapeutic models used within the field, and the best ways to apply these concepts and models to our practice. In addition, there were elective courses that grabbed my attention and covered different aspects of the field.
The faculty was a major support for students and was always available for help and support.
Experiential Learning
I completed two internships while attending UNE. My experience with interprofessional education really came from my first internship and helped me learn a lot. I was able to work with multiple professions when it came to the care of our clients, and I felt it was imperative in covering every aspect of health the client needed cared for. The interprofessional videos provided by the school helped to gain different perspectives on a wide range of topics.
My most memorable field placement moment was having a client with a traumatic brain injury who forgot to make appointments and would go from depression and unchecked health to maintaining health and thriving. He went from 15-minute sessions to 2-hour sessions.
My experience with interprofessional education…helped me learn a lot. I was able to work with multiple professions when it came client care, and it was imperative in covering every aspect of health the client needed cared for.
IPE Impact Report
In addition to making people more effective health care providers, IPE helps people get hired, maximize leadership opportunities, avert professional burnout, develop resilience, and more.
These are among the findings from a recent survey of alumni, asking them to gauge the impact their interprofessional education is having on their working lives.
Why Interprofessional Education Matters
Student Opportunities
CAIEP engages UNE undergraduate and graduate students in a wide range of cross-disciplinary experiential activities, immersive service-learning opportunities, team-based community initiatives, and collaborative research projects.
Students can earn an IPE Honors Distinction by documenting participation in CAIEP activities in an e-portfolio and producing a meaningful interprofessional project.
If you’d like to learn more about CAIEP opportunities, email Michelle Cote at mcote8@une.edu.
Faculty and Professional Staff Opportunities
Faculty and professional staff are always welcome and encouraged to become members of CAIEP’s lively community as facilitators, advisors, and researchers to advance knowledge of IPE’s efficacy.
To learn more about employee opportunities email Kris Hall at chall4@une.edu.
Our Collaborators
CAIEP builds relationships with faculty, university centers, programs, community partners, and national organizations. These partnerships contribute to state-of-the-art programming, meaningful co-curricular and service-learning opportunities for students while at the university, and lifelong connections post-graduation.
If you would like to partner with our center, email Shelley Cohen Konrad at scohenkonrad@une.edu.