The goal of IPE is to train the faculty of schools in the health profession, graduate departments, or other programs, to better equip them to teach their students to address the health care needs of Persons Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH) through interprofessional education and collaborative practice. Our regional partners have programs and partnerships with accredited schools and graduate departments or programs of medicine, nursing, dentistry, public health, allied health, pharmacy, and/or behavioral health to develop or enhance curricula, utilizing interprofessional team-based learning, to train faculty and build capacity to prepare future health care professionals to provide for the health care needs of PLWH. Particular attention is given to minority-serving educational institutions.
The SE AETC is closely partnered with Vanderbilts highly successful interprofessional program called the Vanderbilt Program in Interprofessional Education (VPIL). Students are selected for participation in the IPE program based on their interests in the IPE program and potential training sites. Students who enrolled in the Vanderbilt IPE program chose to take part in the IPE curriculum at their respective institutions and expressed an interest in outpatient based HIV care. Participating professional schools at other IPE sites select students based on eligibility and interest in HIV related issues.
Vanderbilt serves as the Regional Lead for IPE and collaborates closely with partners who have developed their own programs. The university has an established track record for the effective implementation of a clinic-based, longitudinal IPE program. Given our experience over the past five years with VPIL, we utilize lessons learned to develop best practices for successful HIV IPE programs.