This has been quite a year personally and professionally! It has been filled with highs and lows, but I must say that August of 2019 has been an incredibly memorable month!
#missyoumom
The month started over the last weekend of July, when we returned home for a Celebration of Life for my mother Rose Ann Breitbach who passed away in the Spring after a long struggle with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. My mother worked as a nurse in my hometown of Dubuque, Iowa and she touched so many lives. The outpouring of support from family and friends who shared the event with us was a testament to mom’s impact on others. Her spirit will live on in our lives as we continue to show her love, faith, humor and intellectual curiosity in our lives!
CAE Commission
During the Summer, I was nominated for a unique opportunity to serve as the Public Member of the CAE Commission of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE). “The Certified Association Executive (CAE) credential is the marker of a committed association professional who has demonstrated the wide range of knowledge essential to manage an association in today’s challenging environment.” (https://www.asaecenter.org/) Our first CAE Commission meeting took place at the ASAE Annual Conference in Columbus, Ohio on August 10-13, 2019. I was amazed by how I was welcomed in by an amazing group of association leaders and I look forward to helping the Commission work to serve its members and their communities!
Promotion to Full Professor
During the month, my promotion to Full Professor at Saint Louis University became official. Academics has been my “second career” after working 22 years clinically as an athletic trainer. I am humbled to have this honor and I owe a debt of gratitude to many mentors, peers and all the students who have made this possible over the past 12 years as a faculty member at SLU.
Nexus Summit
The Nexus Summit is an Annual Conference hosted by the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This year’s Nexus Summit was held over August 18-20th and it was dedicated to “recognizing a shared goal of improving learning and performance in practice, Nexus Summit 2019 (provided) the venue and framework, utilizing principles of design thinking, to tackle wicked problems while seizing new opportunities.” (https://summit2019.nexusipe.org/)
I was invited to participate as a keynote speaker in the Opening Plenary: “The World Conversation Café - From Conversation Café to World Café: Moving from Ideas to Action” with colleagues Patricia A. Cuff, MS, MPH, Joseph Zorek, PharmD, BCGP, Morgan Passiment, MS and Peter H. Vlasses, PharmD, DSc (Hon.), FCCP. (https://summit2019.nexusipe.org/schedule-events/plenary-world-conversation-cafe-conversation-cafe-world-cafe-moving-ideas-action)
It was an incredible experience to conduct an interactive session where attendees learned more about three landmark reports from the Health Professions Accreditors Collaborative (HPAC), the National Collaborative for Improving the Clinical Learning Environment (NCICLE) and the National Academy of Medicine Global Forum on Innovation in Health Professions Education and were given the opportunity to react to their recommendations!
AIHC Advisory Board
At the Nexus Summit 2019, we also had the first face-to-face meeting of the Advisory Board of the American Interprofessional Health Collaborative (AIHC). I was invited to serve on the AIHC Advisory Board over the summer and continue to serve as a Co-Chair of the AIHC Program Committee. It is a great opportunity to serve with such great colleagues who are dedicated to interprofessional education and collaborative practice to improve health and the healthcare system. (https://aihc-us.org/)
SLU Convocation
Each academic year at SLU kicks off with University Convocation at Chaifetz Arena. This year, I was honored to be invited to take part in Convocation by making a declaration of what SLU’s mission means to me as a faculty member. My statement: “As health professionals learning together in the Jesuit tradition; we share a higher purpose of person-centered care, clinical excellence and interprofessional collaboration to enable a greater good of health, wellness and social justice for individuals, communities and society”. Go Billikens!
MissingLogic Podcast
I have had the opportunity to work over the past few years with my colleagues Tracy Christopherson and Michelle Troseth from MissingLogicLLC and learn about Polarity ThinkingTM in healthcare. On August 28th I was invited to join them on their podcast to discuss emerging trends in interprofessional education and collaborative practice. Michelle and Tracy are high-energy health professionals that are committed to system improvement for individuals and society through a new and innovative “Polarity Lens”. (https://www.missinglogic.com/) The podcast is due for release in October.
Looking back at this past month, I am so grateful for the people and the opportunities in my life.
There are even better moments and achievements ahead!
