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Cross-posted from TargetHIV coverage of the 2018 National Ryan White Conference.
Regional AETCs across the United States are working to bring new clinicians into the HIV workforce through inter-professional education (IPE) programs. IPE trains learners in teams in clinical settings where trainees learn from, about, and through each other. One project in Los Angeles is conducting their IPE program through three separate health campuses for nursing (Charles Drew University), medicine (University of California, Los Angeles), and pharmacy (University of Southern California). "Our program focuses on clinical rotations at diverse Ryan White clinics where student teams interact and learn how HIV care is delivered in patient-centered settings ," explained Tom Donohoe, Director of the Los Angeles Area AETC, part of the regional Pacific AETC. "We recruit from the best, the brightest and the most talented and our IPE outcomes have us optimistic about the future of HIV care," said Donohoe.
"What we learned in this HIV IPE program with pharmacy, medical and nurse practitioner students is that they are highly motivated by addressing social justice issues. Unlike their peers of 30 years ago, they haven't seen people die of HIV in vast numbers, haven't had friends die. Their motivations are different."
Donohoe and others presented a Thursday session, Building the Future of the HIV Workforce – HIV Inter-professional Education Efforts. Teams of students from UCLA, USC, and Drew rotated at six Ryan White clinics in teams of three each. With some prompting, the project "decided to make a video because we realized it was hard to capture the students' motivations and desires to work in HIV in a review of survey statistics. It was a story that needed to be told. It's among the most satisfying projects we worked on," said Donohoe, acknowledging HRSA's support for the effort and the talent of the videographer.
