Chief Residents, Community Providers from Across Southern Arizona Participate in Complex Care Training through UA Center on Aging

Group photo of University of Arizona's IP-CRIT Class of 2017Interprofessional training program provides leadership, skills and specialized training for Banner – University Medical Center and community-based clinicians

The University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson and UA Center on Aging hosted their 8th Annual Interprofessional Chief Resident Immersion Training Program (IP-CRIT) on June 10-11 at the J.W. Marriott Starr Pass Resort. This program focuses on teaching complex care issues related to hospitalized patients, and building leadership, teaching and quality improvement skills.

This year, 39 chief residents representing 17 medical specialties, and 12 community health-care providers from Mariposa Community Health Center in Nogales, Sells Indian Hospital and Chicago’s Home Centered Care Institute, attended the weekend program.

The IP-CRIT program is facilitated by UA interprofessional faculty and targets incoming Banner – University Medical Center chief residents in Tucson because of the key role they play in ensuring safe, high quality patient care, training of medical students and resident physicians, and communicating with patients and families. This year the program was able to expand to include community-based health-care providers.

Conrad Clemens, MD, and Andy Theodorou, MDConrad Clemens, MD, MPH, UA associate dean for Graduate Medical Education and professor of pediatrics and public health, and Andy Theodorou, MD, chief clinical education officer, Banner – University Medicine Division, and vice chair for clinical affairs and quality, UA College of Medicine – Tucson, emphasized the importance of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s “Triple Aim” during the interactive case-based table discussions. The “Triple Aim” effort inspires healthcare providers to take on the responsibility of “improving health, improving health care, and decreasing the cost of health care.”

The highly interactive training provided an opportunity for experts in multiple specialties and disciplines to come together and brainstorm on how to improve care for complex patients and their families across Arizona. Sharing expertise and building collaborative relationships is an important part of the program.

Drs. Julia Indik, Laura Meinke, Amy Sussman and Andrew YeagerAmong trainers from participating from the UA Department of Medicine faculty (and their divisions) were: Julia Indik, MD, PhD (Cardiology), Laura Meinke, MD (Pulmonary), Amy Sussman, MD (Nephrology), and Andrew Yeager, MD (Hematology & Oncology)—pictured at right. Among chief residents from the department were Colleen Cotton, MD (Dermatology) and Yuni Valenzuela, MD (Internal Medicine – Tucson Campus). Invited guests included the Home Centered Care Institute’s Paul Chiang, MD, chief medical officer, and Robin A. Facer, education and training manager. The institute is based in Schaumburg, Ill., a suburb of Chicago.

Mindy Fain, MDMindy J. Fain, MD, chief, UA Division of Geriatrics, General Internal Medicine and Palliative Medicine, co-director, UA Center on Aging, and the UA’s Anne and Alden Hart Endowed Chair in Medicine, said, “In order to provide the best care for hospitalized patients with complex conditions while supporting their caregivers and families, all physicians and health-care providers need to work together seamlessly for the best outcomes.”

The Interprofessional Chief Resident Immersion Training Program is sponsored by the UA Center on Aging, Banner – University Medicine, UA College of Medicine – Tucson Graduate Medical Education Office and the Arizona Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP).

The UA Center on Aging, which oversees Arizona GWEP initiatives, is involved as older adults are often hospitalized with complex conditions that require all health-care providers to work together seamlessly for the best outcomes. But Dr. Fain noted that hospitalized patients of any age frequently require complex care that only a multidisciplinary team can more effectively provide.

Of participating community providers, seven were from Nogales and three from Sells, Ariz. Invited guests included the Home Centered Care Institute’s Paul Chiang, MD, chief medical officer, and Robin A. Facer, education and training manager. The institute is based in Schaumburg, Ill., a suburb of Chicago.

ALSO SEE:
“People and Programs On The Move at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson” | Posted June 26, 2013
“UA’s Arizona Center on Aging Hosts Second Annual Training Program for Chief Residents” | Posted June 16, 2011

Release Date: 
08/18/2017 - 9:00am