Burka elected to board of state interprofessional organization

Lipscomb shares expertise in interprofessional education with state TIPEC consortium members.

Janel Shoun-Smith | 615.966.7078  |  09/19/2019

This past summer, the Tennessee Interprofessional Practice and Education Consortium held its second annual meeting on the Lipscomb University campus. At the Aug. 2 meeting, Lipscomb Director of Interprofessional Education Abbie Burka was installed as a member of the Board of Directors.

Established in 2018, TIPEC seeks to improve the health and well-being of individuals, families, populations and communities in Tennessee through interprofessional education and collaborative practice.

Thus the organization works to connect institutions that want to do interprofessional education and serves as a resource for other organizations around the state, said Burka. The organization works with various health professions from optometrists and pharmacists to physicians and social workers, she said.

Lipscomb has been an institutional member since the organization was founded and works to share its expertise in interprofessional education with the consortium members, Burka said. In addition to Burka’s election to the board, Chad Gentry, associate professor of pharmacy practice, serves as the co-chair of TIPEC’s clinical service working group.

“Involvement in this organization is an outgrowth of our dedication to advancing interprofessional education across the state,” Burka said.

Since the establishment of the then-College of Pharmacy, Lipscomb has continually worked to embed interprofessional education into its health science programs, including partnering with other institutions committed to providing quality IPE experiences for its students such as the Vanderbilt Program for Interprofessional Learning, the Meharry Vanderbilt Alliance, the Meharry Consortium Geriatrics Education Center and the Nashville Interprofessional Education Collaborative.