In the News | Office of Interprofessional Education and Practice

The Carolina COVID-19 Student Service Corps is seeking volunteers to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 on campus this spring. The program is open to undergraduate and graduate students. Volunteers will work on various projects in the Carolina and Chapel Hill communities, including social media campaigns, student outreach, support at COVID-testing sites and contact tracing.

For more information about this important initiative coordinated by the Office of IPEP, please read this interview with Assistant Provost, Meg Zomorodi, and visit the Carolina CSSC tab on our website to sign up!

The Office of IPEP is thrilled to announce that Jennifer Brame, EdS, MS, RDH, has been selected IPEP director for the Adams School of Dentistry! Learn more about Jennie and the ASOD’s commitment to interprofessional excellence here: https://www.dentistry.unc.edu/brame-director-ipep/

Jadesola (Jade) Giwa, DDS Candidate 2021, has received the American Interprofessional Health Collaborative (AIHC) Student Award for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice. The award recognizes a student who has demonstrated consistent engagement in an interprofessional collaborative practice within the clinic, classroom, and/or community.

Read the full article here: https://www.dentistry.unc.edu/giwa-american-interprofessional-health-collaborative-award/

The UNC Center for the Business of Health, in partnership with corporate partners, Sharecare and BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina, held the NC Well-Being Data Analysis Student Competition. 115 students across 29 degree programs participated in the competition designed to drive local insights around well-being in North Carolina in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants competed on behalf of local nonprofits leading pandemic relief efforts.

Winners of the student competition are:

First Place – Mekhala Dissanayake (Ph.D., Epidemiology, ’21), Erica Zeno (Ph.D., Epidemiology, ’21), Kathryn Carpenter (M.P.H., Health Behavior, ’20), and Emily Newman (M.P.H., Health Behavior, ’20)
Second Place – Valentina Marginean (B.S.N., Nursing, ’21), Duncan McBride (B.A., Math/Statistics, ’20)
Third Place – Brainard Burrus (M.D./MBA, ’21), Greeshma Somashekar (M.D./MBA, ’21), Jesse Martin (Pharm.D., ’20), and Sarah Glier (M.D./Ph.D., ’23)

Read more about the competition here!

Meg Zomorodi, assistant provost for interprofessional education and practice and professor in the UNC School of Nursing, received the Bryan Public Service Award for faculty for her work as the director of the Rural Interprofessional Health Initiative. Addressing workforce gaps and poorer health outcomes in rural counties, Zomorodi’s work benefits North Carolina’s rural health systems as well as the professional students across Carolina’s health professional schools. More than 150 interprofessional students have partnered with sites across five rural North Carolina counties and gained education and a clinical immersion experience with underserved populations. Zomorodi’s work aims to invest the University’s resources and students back into North Carolina

Assistant Provost for Interprofessional Education and Practice, Meg Zomorodi, PhD, RN, CNL selected by the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Institute of Medicine to the prestigious honor of membership. Zomorodi joins leaders to advance health policy for a healthier NC.

Congratulations to IPEP Director, Philip Rodgers, Pharm.D. for being selected UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy Instructor of the Year! Rodgers wins top award

The Office of Interprofessional Education and Practice (OIPEP) supports a campus-wide initiative for the intentional integration of interprofessional learning and collaboration. The purpose of the Office is to design and support creative and meaningful ways to enhance student learning, build faculty scholarship and help departments meet accreditation goals.