Interprofessional Education (IPE)

Interprofessional education, commonly referred to as IPE, occurs when students from two or more professions learn about, from and with one another to enable effective collaboration and improve health outcomes.

The Quality Enhancement Plan at UT Health San Antonio is called LINC, which is short for Linking Interprofessional Networks for Collaboration. LINC is an award-winning, university-wide project whereby all schools are collaborating to advance IPE. This collaboration involves administrators, faculty, staff, and students.  

The LINC Longitudinal IPE Program is a noteworthy institutional accomplishment. In this program, interprofessional groups of students complete a strategically sequenced series of three university-wide IPE activities (listed below). Each activity emphasizes interactivity as student groups work through virtual instruction, including interprofessional socialization activities, mini-lectures, illustrated case studies, video case studies, and interprofessional discussions rooted in problem-based learning. 

The LINC Common IPE Experience is the first IPE activity in the series. Launched in fall 2020 and completed by over 3,000 students to date, the purpose of this didactic IPE activity is threefold: (1) introduce students to IPE at UT Health San Antonio using the IPEC competency framework; (2) facilitate interprofessional socialization; and (3) prepare students for future IPE activities. Students complete this IPE activity at the beginning of their degree program.

The LINC Simulation IPE Experience is the second IPE activity in the series. Launched in spring 2023 and completed by over 750 students to date, the purpose of this IPE simulation is threefold: (1) facilitate interprofessional socialization; (2) expand upon interprofessional skills and competencies introduced in the LINC Common IPE Experience; and (3) prepare students for IPE activities they will experience in clinical learning environments. Students complete this IPE activity at/near the middle of their degree program.

The LINC Clinical IPE Experience is the final IPE activity in the series. Scheduled to launch in fall 2023, the purpose of this IPE activity is three-fold: (1) facilitate interprofessional socialization; (2) empower students to evaluate interprofessional clinical learning environments; and (3) prepare students to navigate real-world interprofessional collaborative practice settings. Students complete this IPE activity at/near the end of their degree program. 

A variety of additional IPE activities are required for UT Health San Antonio students depending on their school and degree program. These IPE activities are described within 12 different school- and program-specific LINC IPE Plans.

A host of voluntary, co-curricular IPE opportunities are also offered at UT Health San Antonio to augment students' professional development, such as the LINC Interprofessional Case Competition and the LINC IPE Symposium.

Please contact Dr. Joseph Zorek, LINC Director, at zorek@uthscsa.edu to learn more about the Quality Enhancement Plan, LINC Longitudinal IPE Program, LINC IPE Plans, LINC Interprofessional Case Competition, LINC IPE Symposium, and other IPE opportunities at UT Health San Antonio.