Table Of ContentEstablishing Transdisciplinary Professionalism for Improving Health Outcomes: Workshop Summary
Establishing Transdisciplinary
Professionalism for Improving Health
Outcomes
Workshop Summary
Patricia A. Cuff, Rapporteur
Global Forum on Innovation in Health Professional Education
Board on Global Health
Establishing Transdisciplinary Professionalism for Improving Health Outcomes: Workshop Summary
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NOTICE: The workshop that is the subject of this workshop summary was approved by the Governing Board
of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of
Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.
This activity was supported by contracts between the Academic Consortium for Complementary and
Alternative Health Care, the Academic Council of the American Physical Therapy Association, the Academy
of Nutrition and Dietetics, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, the Aetna Foundation,
the Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions, the American Academy of Family
Physicians, the American Academy of Nursing, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, the
American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, the American Association of Colleges of
Pharmacy, the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists, the American Association of Nurse Practitioners,
the American Board of Family Medicine, the American Board of Internal Medicine, the American College of
Nurse-Midwives, the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)/American Board of
Obstetrics and Gynecology (ABOG), the American Dental Education Association, the American Medical
Association, the American Occupational Therapy Association, the American Psychological Association, the
American Society for Nutrition, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, the Association of
American Medical Colleges, the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges, the Association of
Schools and Colleges of Optometry, the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health, the
Association of Schools of the Allied Health Professions, the Atlantic Philanthropies, the China Medical
Board, the Council of Academic Programs in Communication Sciences and Disorders, the Ghent
University/European Forum for Primary Care, the John A. Hartford Foundation, the Josiah Macy Jr.
Foundation, Kaiser Permanente, the National Academies of Practice, the National Association of Social
Workers, the National Board for Certified Counselors, Inc. and Affiliates, the National League for Nursing,
the National Organization of Associate Degree Nursing, the Physician Assistant Education Association, the
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Society for Simulation in Healthcare, the Uniformed Services
University of the Health Sciences, and the Veterans Health Administration. The views presented in this
publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the
activity.
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Suggested citation: IOM (Institute of Medicine). 2013. Establishing transdisciplinary professionalism for
improving health outcomes: Workshop summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
Establishing Transdisciplinary Professionalism for Improving Health Outcomes: Workshop Summary
Establishing Transdisciplinary Professionalism for Improving Health Outcomes: Workshop Summary
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Establishing Transdisciplinary Professionalism for Improving Health Outcomes: Workshop Summary
PLANNING COMMITTEE FOR ESTABLISHING TRANSDISCIPLINARY
1
PROFESSIONALISM FOR HEALTH
CYNTHIA D. BELAR (Co-Chair), American Psychological Association
MATTHEW K. WYNIA (Co-Chair), American Medical Association
LIZA GOLDBLATT, Academic Consortium for Complementary and Alternative Health Care
NANCY P. HANRAHAN, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing
SANDEEP KISHORE, Weill Cornell Medical College and Harvard Medical School
SALLY OKUN, PatientsLikeMe
RICK TALBOTT, Association of Schools of the Allied Health Professions
RICHARD W. VALACHOVIC, American Dental Education Association
1
Institute of Medicine planning committees are solely responsible for organizing the workshop, identifying topics,
and choosing speakers. The responsibility for the published workshop summary rests with the workshop rapporteur
and the institution.
Establishing Transdisciplinary Professionalism for Improving Health Outcomes: Workshop Summary
1
GLOBAL FORUM ON INNOVATION IN HEALTH PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION
JORDAN COHEN (Co-Chair), George Washington University
AFAF MELEIS (Co-Chair), University of Pennsylvania
KENN APEL, Council of Academic Programs in Communication Sciences and Disorders
CAROL ASCHENBRENER, Association of American Medical Colleges
GILLIAN BARCLAY, Aetna Foundation
MARY BARGER, American College of Nurse-Midwives
TIMI AGAR BARWICK, Physician Assistant Education Association
GERALDINE BEDNASH, American Association of Colleges of Nursing
CYNTHIA BELAR, American Psychological Association
JOANNA CAIN, University of Massachusetts School of Medicine
LINCOLN CHEN, China Medical Board
YUANFANG CHEN, Peking Union Medical College
MARILYN CHOW, Kaiser Permanente
ELIZABETH CLARK, National Association of Social Workers
THOMAS CLAWSON, National Board for Certified Counselors and Affiliates, Inc.
DARLA COFFEY, Council on Social Work Education
MALCOLM COX, Veterans Health Administration
JAN DE MAESENEER, Ghent University
MARIETJIE DE VILLIERS, Stellenbosch University
JAMES G. FOX, Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges
ROGER GLASS, John E. Fogarty International Center
ELIZABETH GOLDBLATT, Academic Consortium for Complementary and Alternative Health
Care
YUANZHI GUAN, Peking Union Medical College
DOUGLAS HEIMBURGER, American Society for Nutrition
JOHN HERBOLD, National Academies of Practice
ERIC HOLMBOE, American Board of Internal Medicine
PAMELA JEFFRIES, Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing
RICK KELLERMAN, American Academy of Family Physicians
KATHRYN KOLASA, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
MARYJOAN LADDEN, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
LUCINDA MAINE, American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy
BEVERLY MALONE, National League for Nursing
BETH MANCINI, Society for Simulation in Healthcare
DAMON MARQUIS, Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions (until July 2013)
LEMMIETTA G. MCNEILLY, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
DONNA MEYER, National Organization of Associate Degree Nursing
FITZHUGH MULLAN, George Washington University
THOMAS NASCA, Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education
ANDRES-JACQUES NEUSY, THENet
WARREN NEWTON, American Board of Family Medicine
1
Institute of Medicine forums and roundtables do not issue, review, or approve individual documents.
The responsibility for the published workshop summary rests with the workshop rapporteur and the
institution.
Establishing Transdisciplinary Professionalism for Improving Health Outcomes: Workshop Summary
KELLY WILTSE NICELY, American Association of Nurse Anesthetists
LIANA ORSOLINI, Bon Secours Health System, Inc.
RAJATA RAJATANAVIN, Mahidol University
SCOTT REEVES, University of California, San Francisco
EDWARD SALSBERG, Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services (until August 2013)
MADELINE SCHMITT, American Academy of Nursing
NELSON SEWANKAMBO, Makerere University College of Health Sciences
STEPHEN SHANNON, American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine
SUSAN SKOCHELAK, American Medical Association
HARRISON SPENCER, Association of Schools of Public Health
RICK TALBOTT, Association of Schools of the Allied Health Professions
GEORGE THIBAULT, Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation
JAN TOWERS, American Academy of Nurse Practitioners
RICHARD W. VALACHOVIC, American Dental Education Association
SARITA VERMA, University of Toronto
PATRICIA HINTON WALKER, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
SHANITA WILLIAMS, Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services
HOLLY WISE, Academic Council of the American Physical Therapy Association
BRENDA ZIERLER, University of Washington
SANJAY ZODPEY, Public Health Foundation of India
IOM Staff
PATRICIA A. CUFF, Senior Program Officer
RACHEL M. TAYLOR, Associate Program Officer
MEGAN M. PEREZ, Research Assistant
AUDREY AVILA, Intern
NIKITA SRINIVASAN, Intern
CHRISTEN WOODS, Intern
JULIE WILTSHIRE, Financial Officer
PATRICK W. KELLEY, Senior Board Director
Establishing Transdisciplinary Professionalism for Improving Health Outcomes: Workshop Summary
REVIEWERS
This workshop summary has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their
diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the
National Research Council’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review
is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published
workshop summary as sound as possible and to ensure that the summary meets institutional
standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review
comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the process. We
wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this workshop summary:
MARTHA N. HILL, Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing
MAXINE PAPADAKIS, University of California, San Francisco
JOHN WEEKS, Academic Consortium for Complementary and Alternative Health Care
CHRISTINE S. ZAMBRICKI, American Association of Nurse Anesthetists
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and
suggestions, they did not see the final draft of the workshop summary before its release. The
review of this workshop summary was overseen by CAROL PEARL HERBERT, The University of
Western Ontario. Appointed by the Institute of Medicine, she was responsible for making certain
that an independent examination of this summary was carried out in accordance with institutional
procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final
content of this workshop summary rests entirely with the author and the institution.
Establishing Transdisciplinary Professionalism for Improving Health Outcomes: Workshop Summary
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A landmark event for the Global Forum on Innovation in Health Professional Education
took place in Washington, DC, with the first gathering of the forum members in early 2012. At
this meeting, members discussed how they might begin to consider addressing some of the
challenges highlighted in the two reports that laid the foundation for the work of the forum. One
of these was an independent Lancet Commission report led by Julio Frenk and Lincoln Chen
titled Health Professionals for a New Century: Transforming Education to Strengthen Health
Systems in an Interdependent World. The other was a report of the Institute of Medicine titled
The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. Both the Lancet Commission and
the Institute of Medicine (IOM) reports provide a high-level vision for the health professions
around the world.
Some of the discussions at that first forum meeting were to consider how this group,
made up of multiple health professionals representing education and practice from different
sectors and drawn from four continents, might come together in deciding on what topics the
forum is best positioned to address. An agreement was reached to focus the first year on
interprofessional education (IPE). IPE was a particularly appropriate topic given that four
members from Uganda, South Africa, India, and Canada were brought into the forum specifically
because of their interprofessional work addressing leadership and professionalism—topics that
received considerable attention in the Lancet Commission and The Future of Nursing reports.
Forum members came together twice in 2012 to attend workshops on IPE hosted by the
Global Forum. Presentations at these events highlighted the importance of working together for
improved safety and quality of health care, as well as the importance of collaboration for
improving the health of communities and populations. How students and faculty acquire these
skills was a key part of the discussions. Discussions also set the stage for the next workshop by
grappling with whether health professionals could come together in a unified manner to engage
in public discourse with society about the important topic of professionalism.
This workshop stimulated many unique ideas of how society and the health professions
might work toward a unified goal and who might lead such an auspicious undertaking. As co-
chairs of the forum, we are grateful to all who made this event a resounding success. These
include the workshop planning committee co-chairs, Cynthia Belar and Matthew Wynia, along
with the planning committee members: Liza Goldblatt, Nancy Hanrahan, Sandeep Kishore, Sally
Okun, Rick Talbott, and Richard Valachovic. It goes without saying that the workshop would not
have been possible without the adept skills of the IOM staff—Patricia Cuff, forum director;
Rachel Taylor, associate program officer; and Megan Perez, research assistant. And special
thanks go to Patrick Kelley for his leadership in directing the IOM’s Board on Global Health,
which oversees the Global Forum. Finally, we are deeply indebted to our 45 sponsors and 60
members of the Global Forum for making it possible to hold workshops like the one on
establishing a new professionalism.
Jordan Cohen, Forum Co-Chair Afaf Meleis, Forum Co-Chair
