Shenandoah provides a supportive learning environment for pre-health undergraduate students and an interprofessional, team-based learning approach for graduate students — guiding both populations into satisfying careers as highly qualified health professionals.
To facilitate these efforts, the Division of Academic Affairs created a strategic, dual-administrative role for Associate Professor of Physician Assistant Studies Anne Schempp, PA-C, who serves as director of pre-health & interprofessional education (IPE).
Schempp facilitates the process of placing existing IPE within a more formal academic structure to support:
- program-to-program interprofessional learning;
- large-scale interprofessional learning activities designed to increase communication, identify problems or address ethical issues; and
- international IPE experiences, where learning occurs in an international setting.
“Studies show that when we work together as a team in practice, we better serve our patients,” said Karen Abraham, Ph.D., PT, interim dean of the School of Health Professions. “Our students learn to understand the roles and responsibilities of practitioners in other professions, how to communicate effectively and how to work together as a team.”
At the undergraduate level, the program provides the infrastructure to:
- prepare students academically for the rigor of graduate school;
- offer new courses to help build skills essential for graduate school; and
- supplement academic advising while students explore graduate school opportunities or prepare for graduate programs.
“Our job is to counsel and advise undergraduate students interested in a future health care profession and to help them discover what motivates them,” said Schempp. “The more opportunities we provide to help them think through that process, the better it will be for them overall.”
The Office of Interprofessional Education and Collaboration (IPEC) recently announced the creation of the IPEC Council, the university-wide governing body composed of members designated by their respective programs to represent all interprofessional education stakeholders. The members and schools represented on the IPEC Council are:
- Anne Schempp, MPAS, PA-C
Director of the Office of Interprofessional Education and Collaboration - Tony Miller, M.Ed., PA-C
Director of the Physician Assistant
Studies (PA) Program - Kathleen LaSala, Ph.D.
Dean of the Eleanor Wade Custer
School of Nursing - Stephanie Cross, M.S., RRT, RPFT
Director of the Division of Respiratory Care - Anthony Meadows, Ph.D.
Director of graduate music therapy studies - Cathy Shanholtz, OTD, M.Ed., OTR/L
Director of the Division of Occupational Therapy• Lisa McVey, DPT
Associate professor of physical therapy - Michelle Gamber, D.P.H.
Director of graduate public health programs - Dawn Havrda, Pharm.D.
Chair of pharmacy practice, Bernard J. Dunn
School of Pharmacy - Rose Schmieg, D.H.Sc.
Director of the Division of Athletic Training
My role is to create the structure for these activities that are already occurring across the various disciplines. As we centralize that process, we can build upon those strengths. —Anne Schempp, PA-C
Associate Professor of Physician Assistant Studies
