Interprofessional imagination: How IPE can give HOPE for better health outcomes for all

Thursday, May 29, 2025   8:00 - 9:30 CDT

Peter Cahn profile pic
Peter S. Cahn, PhD
Peter S. Cahn, PhD joined MGH Institute of Health Professions in 2012 as associate provost for academic affairs and professor of health professions education. In that role, he facilitates faculty recruitment and retention, curricular integration and assessment, and global health opportunities. Previously, he served as the inaugural director of faculty development and diversity at Boston University Department of Medicine, where he was a founding member of the New England Network on Faculty Affairs. Trained as a cultural anthropologist, his research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Wenner-Gren Foundation, and the Harvard Radcliffe Institute. His publications on faculty development, interprofessional education and practice, and antiracism have appeared in Academic Medicine, Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions, Journal of Nursing Education, and Journal of Interprofessional Care, where he serves as an associate editor. He received an AB from Harvard University, MPhil from University of Cambridge, and PhD from University of California, Berkeley. 
 

Even with different models of delivering health care, in both Canada and the United States health outcomes often depend on characteristics like race, class, and geography. These health disparities are deemed inequities when they stem from socially determined causes that negatively affect members of disfavored groups. Interprofessional educators have heeded the call to address inequities by preparing graduates attentive to the larger structures that impact the lives of their patients and clients. Yet, the most common IPE activities related to health equity focus on raising awareness of systemic issues while leaving the unjust systems in place. IPE alone may not be sufficient to dismantle systems of oppression, however, it can stimulate a collaborative effort to imagine radical new ways of promoting health and wellbeing for all. Only with a clear vision of a new, more equitable model can systemic change begin.

  • List structural barriers in healthcare systems that contribute to health inequities
  • Identify limitations of traditional IPE activities designed to address health inequities
  • Describe the importance of cultivating imagination to envision a more equitable healthcare system
  • Design an interprofessional educational activity that integrates a humanistic approach to foster creative approaches to improving health outcomes.