CSWE Full Circle September 2012

Volume 2012, Issue 9

New Forum Launched by the Institute of Medicine (IOM)

Taking inspiration from the 2010 IOM report, The Future of Nursing, and the 2010 Lancet Commission report on interdependent health professional education for the 21st century, the IOM Global Forum on Innovation in Health Professional Education aims to apply an ongoing, multi-national, multidisciplinary approach to exploring promising innovations in health education. The Forum brings together stakeholders from a variety of disciplines and sectors to engage in dialogue and discussion to illuminate contemporary issues in health professional education. The Forum is focused on strategies and initiatives that are consistent with social work education: educating health professionals to be change agents and aligning health professional education to reduce health disparities.

Through the sponsorship provided of The John A. Hartford Foundation, CSWE President Darla Spence Coffey represented the social work education field at the Forum’s August 29–30 public workshop meeting, Education for Practice: Improving Health by Linking Education to Practice Using IPE. To learn more about that workshop, see additional meeting resources.

Another meeting of the Global Forum will be held in November 2012 to deepen the discussion, share best practices, and develop strategies for education for interprofessional teamwork.