Linking Interprofessional Community Health Experiences With Nursing Education: 15 Years and Counting.

Abstract

BACKGROUND Ensuring that nurses and other health care professionals are trained to work together in teams is critical. PROBLEM Recent literature describes interprofessional education (IPE) programs that meet community health needs. However, there is a need for descriptions of IPE programs embedded in the communities they serve. APPROACH Bridging the Gaps (BTG) is a collaboration between academic health institutions/universities and community organizations in the northeastern United States. BTG links IPE with the provision of health-related services for under resourced communities. This article describes the development of one BTG Community Health Internship Program (BTG CHIP) affiliate site (BTG, Lehigh Valley). OUTCOMES Since inception, 114 interns completed the program as part of BTG CHIP, Lehigh Valley, for a total of 3192 days of service provided to the community. BTG CHIP, Lehigh Valley, serves as a case study for establishing similar community-based IPE programs. This article describes challenges, opportunities, and replication strategies.