CTIPH selected to participate in National Academy of Medicine pilot project

The University of Arizona's Center for Transformative Interprofessional Healthcare, or CTIPH, in collaboration with the Comprehensive Center for Pain and Addiction and the Center for Rural Health was recently selected to participate in the National Academy of Medicine’s Action Collaborative on Combatting Substance Use and Opioid Crises Core Competency Implementation Pilot Project. In partnership with the Action Collaborative, CTIPH will join 15 other implementation sites across the United States in working towards advancing substance use care, workforce competency and interprofessional education and practice by implementing the Action Collaborative’s 3Cs Framework for Pain and Unhealthy Substance Use, released in 2022.

Recognizing the critical role that health professionals play in combatting substance use and opioid crises, in 2021 members of the Action Collaborative authored a special publication, Educating Together, Improving Together: Harmonizing Interprofessional Approaches to Address the Opioid Epidemic, identifying the need to establish minimum core competencies in pain management and substance use care for all health professionals. To catalyze response efforts to this need, the Action Collaborative developed the 3Cs Framework for Pain and Unhealthy Substance Use, which aims to set a standard for the minimum level of competence in pain management and substance use care expected from all health professionals to address professional practice gaps while strengthening the delivery of coordinated, interprofessional, high-quality and person-centered care.

The pilot project seeks to gain insights on the varied applications of the 3Cs Framework and the respective implementation processes. The learnings from this project will offer insight into the feasibility and utility of implementing the 3Cs Framework to improve health professional competency across the learning continuum and a diversity of interprofessional education and practice settings.

The CTIPH was selected as one of the implementation pilot sites to offer two online IPE events on pain and substance misuse which are mapped to the 3C's Framework. Students who participate in one of the two online events will be invited to the in-person applied learning collaborative. The Applied Learning Collaborative will offer students an opportunity to apply knowledge learned specifically on screening and brief intervention through an interactive case and role play activities. There is still time to register for the online IPE events here. Please register by Sept. 16 for one of the two October events.

Through participation in the implementation pilot, CTIPH will help to inform and shape the future of health professions education policy and practice. As part of the implementation pilot, the project team will engage in a dynamic learning community where they will share insights and best practices while fostering relationships and connections with other sites and Action Collaborative members. The team will also travel to Washington, D.C. to participate in a final knowledge sharing convening that will bring together representatives from the pilot sites and leaders across health professions education and training, health care delivery and policy.

See the full list of training sites here.

About the Action Collaborative on Combatting Substance Use and Opioid Crises 

The Action Collaborative on Combatting Substance Use and Opioid Crises brings together key stakeholders from the public, private and nonprofit sectors to proactively drive structural change by developing, curating and implementing multisector solutions and tools designed to reduce substance misuse and improve outcomes for individuals, families and communities affected by addiction.

About the National Academy of Medicine 

The National Academy of Medicine, established in 1970 as the Institute of Medicine, is an independent organization of eminent professionals from diverse fields including health and medicine; the natural, social and behavioral sciences; and beyond. It serves alongside the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering as an adviser to the nation and the international community. Through its domestic and global initiatives, the NAM works to address critical issues in health, medicine and related policy and inspire positive action across sectors. The NAM collaborates closely with its peer academies and other divisions within the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.