August 2019 – My Most Memorable Month!

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! 

An October to Remember

By. Anthony Breitbach PhD, ATC, FASAHP

In my scholarly career, the month of October 2019 will go down as one of the most special.  It was marked by opportunity, development and recognition.

The month of October started in St. Petersburg, Florida at the Association of Schools of Allied Health Professions (ASAHP) Annual Conference on October 8-12, 2018.  It was whirlwind of activity, not to mention a close call with Hurricane Michael!

I was a participant in ASAHP's Leadership Development Program in 2018 and I began the week in the program activities which culminated in a presentation with my teammates: Dr. Lisa Dutton (University of St. Catherine), Dr. Elizabeth Adams (University of South Alabama), Dr. Patricia Talbert (Howard University) and our mentor Dr. Andrew Butler (Georgia State University).  It was an amazing opportunity which helped me grow personally and professionally.

I serve as the National Athletic Trainers' Association liaison to ASAHP and I also serve as the Chair of the ASAHP Interprofessional Subcommittee.  We were able to give the inaugural ASAHP Award for Institutional Excellence and Innovation in Interprofessional Education And Collaborative Health Care to Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at the awards banquet.  Unexpectedly, I was also honored with ASAHP's "Outstanding Member Award" this year for my work with the association.  What a humbling and special experience!

The following day, at the ASAHP Fellows Luncheon, I was also named a ASAHP Fellow with colleagues Dr. Andrew Butler and Dr. Mitch Cordova (Florida Gulf Coast University).  An incredibly proud moment, as Mitch Cordova and I joined Dr. Chris Ingersoll (University of Toledo) as the only three athletic trainers who have received this honor.

The week continued to be special as I "uber'ed" across the causeway to Tampa for the Commission on Accreditation for Athletic Training Education (CAATE) Accreditation Conference.  Once there, Jordan Utley (University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences) presented to a packed house of colleagues on Interprofessional Education.

This special month was not yet finished...October wrapped up with a presentation "Actionable Interprofessional Scholarship: Myth or Reality?" at the Thomas Jefferson University Interprofessional Education Conference in Philadephia on October 27, 2018. I presented this workshop with my colleague on the American Interprofessional Collaborative (AIHC) Program Committee, Dr. Devin Nickol (University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha).

Overall, the month of October was one that I will long remember...personally and professionally!

A Busy and Fun "Hat Dance" in Minneapolis

2018 Nexus Summit - National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education, Minneapolis, Minnesota
By: Anthony Breitbach PhD, ATC

Each summer, the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education holds it “Nexus Summit” in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  This year’s event was a busy one for me because I wear several “hats” in professional service and interprofessional scholarship.

I serve as the Chair of the Interprofessional Subcommittee of the Association of Schools of Allied Health Professions (ASAHP).  We hosted the first ever ASAHP Summit on Healthcare Workforce Readiness for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice as a pre-conference session on Saturday, July 28, 2018 at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis.

The focus of the ASAHP Summit was “Sustainable Collaborative Health Care through Education-Practice Partnerships” and was facilitated by Michelle Troseth and Tracy Christopherson from Missing Logic LLC.  They led participants through a highly engaging session examining the polarities between Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice.  We look to provide outputs from the event including a proceedings report, as well as a peer-reviewed presentation and paper.

I also serve on the Program Committee for the American Interprofessional Health Collaborative (AIHC).  Wearing my AIHC “hat” I participated in session on interprofessional scholarship entitled “Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice: Continuing our Collective Conversation” with my colleagues from the Program Committee.  Additionally, I served as a reviewer for student poster presentations and a mentor for a student participating in the Nexus Summit.

Dr. Keri Hager from the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy in Duluth and I also collaborated on two “Conversation Café’s” entitled “What’s Next? Identifying Challenging IPE Issues to Drive Future Priorities” using the World Café method.  This collaboration was fun and it engaged persons from many sectors examining future priorities for AIHC and the National Center.  Dr. Hager also used this event as an opportunity to demonstrate her skills on the ukulele.

Last, but not least, I wore my “hat” as a faculty member at Saint Louis University engaged in the scholarship of Interprofessional Education.  I presented a poster with Katie Sniffen MS, ATC entitled “Utilizing Case-based Learning to Enhance Interprofessional Role Clarity for Athletic Training and Physical Therapy Students” about our interprofessional Therapeutic Modalities course.

I also presented a poster on my research with Scott Reeves and Simon Fletcher.  This poster presentation “Health Care as a Team Sport? Studying Athletics through a World Cafe to Improve Interprofessional Collaboration” was bittersweet since Scott’s passing in May.  He is missed by the entire interprofessional scholarly community as we work hard to carry on his legacy of excellence.

Overall, the Nexus Summit was a busy and fun “Hat Dance” that helped me engage and grow as an interprofessional scholar.