The LINC organizational model is designed to facilitate strategic alignment of key contributors who, through interprofessional collaboration, are positioned to bring innovative interprofessional education (IPE) ideas to life. In other words, LINC is an incubator that seeks to cultivate IPE knowledge and skills of faculty, staff and students and increase opportunities for student IPE experiences. While many creative ideas to advance IPE at UT Health San Antonio have emerged through LINC, a handful have been selected to move beyond concept into development and implementation. The list below represents LINC programs and projects that we count as early successes.

LINC Longitudinal IPE Program

Students complete the LINC Longitudinal IPE Program in interprofessional groups of 3-4. Interactivity is emphasized 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

The LINC Common IPE Experience is the first IPE activity in the LINC Longitudinal IPE Program. Launched in Fall 2020 and completed by over 3,000 students to date, the purpose of this didactic, university-wide IPE activity is threefold: (1) introduce students to IPE at UT Health San Antonio using the IPEC framework; (2) facilitate interprofessional socialization; and (3) prepare students for IPE activities they will experience as part of program-specific IPE plans. Students complete this IPE activity at the beginning of their educational program.

The LINC Simulation IPE Experience

The LINC Simulation IPE Experience is the second IPE activity in the LINC Longitudinal IPE Program. Launched in spring 2023 and  completed by over 750 students to date, the purpose of this university-wide IPE activity 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 educational program.

The LINC Clinical IPE Experience

The LINC Clinical IPE Experience serves as the capstone to the LINC Longitudinal IPE Program. Scheduled to launch in Fall 2023, the purpose of this university-wide 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 (IPCP) settings. Students complete this IPE activity at/near the end of their educational program.

LINC IPE Symposium

Each spring, the LINC Student Council organizes the annual LINC IPE Symposium with a mission of bringing award-winning interprofessional education (IPE) opportunities to UT Health San Antonio faculty, staff and students. Through in-person and live virtual events, attendees experience student- and faculty-led IPE activities, including panel discussions, workshops, networking events, presentations of scholarly work and a keynote address.

LINC Seed Grant Program

Annually, the LINC Faculty Council invites applications from UT Health San Antonio faculty and staff requesting financial support for pilot projects designed to advance didactic IPE, clinical IPE and co-curricular IPE. Support ranging from $500 to $5000 is available through the program for projects demonstrating potential in terms of future scalability, sustainability, extramural support and integration into programs’ curricula. Pilot projects must involve contributors from at least two different UT Health San Antonio schools and be designed to develop competencies within learners that target the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) framework. In addition to advancing an innovative IPE activity, funded projects must formally investigate effectiveness through a robust assessment of hypotheses and desired outcomes. A well-defined plan to disseminate findings and use pilot data to seek extramural funding is expected. To date, $100,509 has been awarded for 22 projects involving 80 investigators and collaborators.

LINC Interprofessional Case Competition

Every spring semester, the LINC Faculty Council’s Co-Curricular IPE Initiative leads a voluntary interprofessional case competition for students at UT Health San Antonio. Teams of 3-4 students representing two or more educational programs from two or more schools at UT Health San Antonio apply IPE knowledge and skills to develop innovative solutions to healthcare problems throughout Texas. Submissions are scored by a faculty panel of judges and the top scoring teams receive prize money.

For questions, please contact Casey Redish at redish@uthscsa.edu.

LINC Writers’ Workshop

Launched in January 2022 as a pilot for past LINC seed grant awardees, the inaugural LINC Writers’ Workshop introduces participants to various publication opportunities for IPE projects; this includes commentaries, case reports, systematic reviews, scoping reviews, quality improvement articles and hypothesis-driven research. Consensus guidance and writing strategies will be shared with participants as a roadmap to transform completed IPE projects into peer-reviewed publications. The workshop leverages blended learning strategies, with asynchronous learning complimented by live instruction. Nationally recognized experts in IPE lead a collaborative writing workshop and IPE journal editors will provide guidance and advice during a moderated panel discussion. If they choose, participants who complete the workshop will be paired with a mentor to serve as a resource during the publication development, submission and peer review process.

LINC IPE Faculty & Staff Development Program

Annually in the fall and spring, the LINC Office invites UT Health San Antonio employees interested in learning about different types of IPE, including characteristics of success from the published literature and successful local IPE efforts, in order to contribute meaningfully to existing IPE activities or to develop new IPE activities, to participate in a series of workshops called the LINC IPE Faculty & Staff Development Program.

LINC Interprofessional Education Plans

LINC is an infrastructure-focused Quality Enhancement Plan intended to advance UT Health San Antonio’s Strategic Vision by enhancing our capacity for interprofessional education (IPE). Key measures of success include increasing student knowledge and skills related to IPE, demonstrating schools’ and programs’ adoption of IPE as a strategic priority through increased activities integrated into programs’ curricula, and increasing opportunities for student IPE experiences across the institution.

To integrate IPE into programs’ curricula, and with support from UT Health San Antonio’s Vice President for Academic, Faculty & Student Affairs (VP AFSA) and Deans Council, the LINC Academic Affairs Council spearheads the annual development, approval and study of 12 IPE Plans in accordance with national consensus guidelines from the Health Professions Accreditors Collaborative. IPE Plans include universal elements shared by all students at UT Health San Antonio, such as foundational learning experiences and student learning outcomes measures, as well as unique elements customized to meet targeted needs identified within specific schools/programs.

LINC Core IPE Measurement Plan

The LINC Core IPE Measurement Plan, developed by the LINC Assessment Council with support from the LINC Academic Affairs Council, provides the foundation for all IPE-focused student learning outcomes measurement at UT Health San Antonio. Our approach consists of four tools administered at three timepoints in a student’s academic career. In accordance with the Institute of Medicine’s Interprofessional Learning Continuum Model, these valid and reliable tools measure changes in students’ reactions, attitudes/perceptions, skills and behavior related to IPE and teamwork.

LINC IPE Activity Repository

The LINC IPE Activity Repository is a living database, updated annually, of IPE activities offered to learners at UT Health San Antonio. The repository allows users to search for IPE activities using numerous filters, including faculty/staff leader, IPE activity type (didactic IPE, clinical IPE, or co-curricular IPE), learner type, and IPEC competencies targeted. For questions related to the activities, please contact the faculty/staff leader.

If you are the faculty/staff leader of an IPE activity at UT Health San Antonio that is not represented in this repository, please contact Meagan Rockne at rockne@uthscsa.edu.

Community of LINC Scholars

The Community of LINC Scholars meets bi-monthly to facilitate interaction, engagement and collaboration across LINC Councils. The next Community of LINC Scholars event will take place Friday, July 21, from 12:00-1:00pm in the ALTC. During this event, the LINC community will be sharing scholarly updates followed by networking over lunch.

If you have any questions, please contact Casey Redish at redish@uthscsa.edu.