Interprofessional Education and Practice: Moving Forward Together for Impact

The Center to Advance Interprofessional Education and Practice is pleased to welcome Dr. Christine Arenson, Director of the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education Wednesday, December 13 in Innovation Hall, Portland Campus.

Dr. Arenson’s Keynote will address the importance of building successful university-community partnerships and strategic collaborations to improve healthcare and health professions education. The University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine (UNE COM) is accredited by the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) and the Maine Medical Association‘s Committee on Continuing Medical Education and Accreditation to provide continuing medical education for physicians.  Approval is currently pending. 

Bio

Christine A. Arenson, MD is the Director of the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education. She joined the National Center in July 2020, serving as co-director in a leadership nexus with Founding Director Barbara Brandt. As Director, Dr. Arenson leads the strategic direction of the National Center, with a focus on cultivating partnerships to advance initiatives and grow the center’s commitment to generating new knowledge to advance the field. Prior to joining the National Center, Dr. Arenson served as Alumni Professor and Chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dr. Arenson graduated from the University of Delaware in 1986 and Jefferson Medical College in 1990. She completed family medicine residency training at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, followed by a fellowship in geriatric medicine. She was the founding Director of the Jefferson Division of Geriatric Medicine and Palliative Care and has focused on patient-centered care and team education for health professionals as strategies to improve the health of older adults. She was the founding Co-Director of the Jefferson Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education, serving in that role from 2007-2016.

She has been actively engaged in primary care transformation to meet the Quadruple Aim: Improve the Experience of Care, Improve Health Outcomes, Reduce Costs and Restore Joy in Practice. She previously served on the board of Jeff Care Alliance, Jefferson’s clinically integrated network, and the Delaware Valley Accountable Care Organization. She was a member of the Executive Steering Committee for Jefferson Health population health and primary care service lines, implementing a new Advanced Primary Care Model across the Jefferson primary care network. She is a past chair of the American Interprofessional Health Collaborative. She has served as a member of the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education Knowledge Generation Advisory Committee since 2014.

Her current work focuses on implementing the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education strategic vision, emphasizing simultaneous transformation of interprofessional practice and education to achieve outcomes that matter most while driving toward health equity.