In this episode, Dr Saria Carter Saccocio, MD, is joined by STFM Past President Aaron J. Michelfelder, MD, and Fran Vlasses, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, ANEF, FAAN, who discuss implementing a ground-breaking interprofessional program at their institution. They share the three-step process they use for helping a group of individuals grow into a highly-functioning care team, as well as the important role language plays in building the team dynamic. They also discuss the health benefits that interprofessional teams can have for patients and for addressing health inequities.
This series of podcasts is sponsored by the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM), the academic home for family medicine educators.
Guest Bio:
Aaron J. Michelfelder, M.D., FAAFP, FAAMA is an educator, researcher, family physician and medical acupuncturist. He joined the Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine and Loyola University Medical Center as a faculty member in 2000. He currently serves as Loyola’s chair of family medicine, co-director for Loyola’s Institute for Transformative Interprofessional Education (I-TIE), and is a professor of family medicine, bioethics & health policy, and medical education. He also serves as the Immediate Past-President for the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine.
Dr. Vlasses’ career spans 35 years in healthcare, administration and academic teaching with special emphasis on studying innovation in healthcare system infrastructure redesign. She secured funding to transform the model of care delivery in Family Medicine in Maywood, Il to better serve the community with interprofessional teams, to develop health care professionals in interprofessional collaboration and to integrate behavioral health in primary care. Dr. Vlasses is the Inaugural Co-Director of the Institute for Transformative Interprofessional Education at Loyola University Chicago, Health Science Center. She is a Professor Emeritus of Nursing and Family Medicine. She has led innovations in team education and team building in education and community. Dr. Vlasses maintains productive collaborations with leaders in the Schools of Social Work, Law, Medicine, Education, Nursing and Public Health, which have led to permanent interprofessional learning opportunities to broaden the health profession students understanding of the communities they serve. Nationally she is a member of an expert panel to develop an institutional assessment tool to standardize institutional progress towards IPEC implementation and is serving on the IPEC working group to revise the IPEC competencies.
In 2011 she received the unique honor of being inducted as a Fellow into both the Academy of Nursing Education and the American Academy of Nursing. The Ohio State University College of Nursing, named Dr. Vlasses one of 100 Alumni Transformers in Nursing and Healthcare.
Host Bio:
Dr. Saria Saccocio is a physician executive consultant, advising companies to strategically and equitably deliver value-based healthcare spanning populations across the continuum. Among her current leadership initiatives, Dr. Saccocio serves as the Chief Physician Health Equity Engagement Officer for the National Minority Quality Forum’s Center for Sustainable Health Care Quality and Equity.
Dr. Saccocio has demonstrated a consistent history of leading award-winning programs and improving patient care and safety across the continuum as a Chief Medical Officer for health systems in the southeast. She received her Doctor of Medicine from the University of Florida, and her Executive Master of Health Administration from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She completed her Family Medicine residency at the University of Miami before opening her own solo family practice. She continues to serve patients at the Greenville Free Medical Clinic.