Blog written by
USDLA Board Member
2018 Quality Research Paper Award: “Difficult to Doable: Interprofessional Collaborative Practice in Education”
The Quality Research Paper Award is given to the author(s) of a high-quality research paper that advances the field of distance learning. This year’s award went to: Dr. Patricia Cannistraci (left in photo) and Dr. Bonny Kehm (right in photo) from the Excelsior College. Their research investigated the impact of interprofessional education, in a distance education setting, on student’s self-efficacy around the Interprofessional Collaborative Practice constructs. Their 
study revealed that interprofessional educational (IPE) is attainable in distance education, with significant changes in student’s self-efficacy. USDLA proudly presented them with the 2018 Quality Research Paper Award at the Annual USDLA Conference in Indianapolis in May 2018. Defined by the World Health Organization (2010) IPE or interprofessional education – is when two or more health care professions learn about, with and from each other. As stated in their research paper, in 2011 six professions – medicine, nursing, dentistry, osteopathy, pharmacy and public health – collaborated to produce the Core Competencies for Interprofessional Practice (Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC), 2016).
Dr. Cannistraci and Dr. Kehm, our award winners, are from the school of nursing and helped design an online, asynchronous, IPE experience for Excelsior. Students who participated were RN-to-BSN students, dietetic interns as well as Global Health students. The students interacted thru “Moodle” (https://moodle.com) to facilitate their week-long discussions while answering 5 study questions. Their results are impressive and confirmed that interprofessional education is attainable thru distance education with significant changes in student’s self-efficacy. (Journal of Nursing Education Vol. 57, No. 4, 2018)
This was such a fun interview to do! The University of Arizona Health Sciences, where I work, has also been integrating IPE events and best practices into the curriculum. We had a great networking visit and agreed that distance learning is the future for training in healthcare and particularly with regards to integrating interprofessional education. Both synchronously and asynchronously, thru building web-based communities as well as hybrid curriculum formats that combine rich technology-based training with valuable in-person activities. Collaborative practice for improving patient care while promoting patient-centered health care is absolutely the future – and to integrate this kind of training into the curriculum now is critical for preparing the healthcare workforce of the future.
IPE has grown rapidly across the United States, Canada and England as collaborators working together around the world producing a variety of training experiences for IPE. I really enjoyed our interview for this blog and learned so much from what they have done. To network in the telehealth world –one part of the distance learning universe – is just one reason I truly enjoy participating in USDLA.
The USDLA thanks our 2018 International Awards program sponsor, Lifesize.
November 5th – 9th, 2018 – National Distance Learning Week (NDLW)
November 28th – 30th, 2018 – International Forum for Women in E-learning (IFWE) – San Antonio, Texas
Learn more about the USDLA and how you too can be a member. The association supports all core markets including Enterprise, Government, Telemedicine, Education and others.