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.

Honor, Loss and Legacy

Remembering Professor Scott Reeves
By: Anthony Breitbach PhD, ATC

The first week of May 2018 was marked by personal achievement and tragic loss.

On Thursday, May 3rd I was honored by my colleagues in the Doisy College of Health Sciences with an “Excellence in Scholarship” award.  It was gratifying to receive this award 10 years after I moved over to a faculty position after 22 years in clinical practice as an Athletic Trainer.

I have been fortunate to collaborate with an excellent group of colleagues and mentors to build a line of scholarship in an area that I feel that is essential to the future of health care – Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice.

On the morning of May 4th, as our graduating students were making their Capstone presentations, I received the tragic news of the passing of Professor Scott Reeves. Scott is a friend, colleague and mentor who has had a tremendous influence on me and the Interprofessional field.

Reflecting on this news and my relationship with Scott ran a range of emotions: sadness for his wife Ruth and family; emptiness for the gaping hole left by the loss of a friend; gratitude for his impact on my work as a scholar; and determination to take a part with the Interprofessional community to continue Scott’s legacy.

Scott created many connections and influenced many to pursue interprofessional scholarship.  We invited him to Saint Louis University as a keynote speaker for the 2015 World Federation of Athletic Training and Therapy World Congress.  He gave several outstanding presentations at the Congress however, it was the informal conversations over dinner and a pint that left a lasting impact.

Scott Reeves with 2015 WFATT co-presenters Dr. Kim Peer (AT Education Journal) and Dr. Craig Denegar (Journal of Athletic Training.

He developed an appreciation for the Athletic Training profession and through that we looked for ways to collaborate.  We worked with Simon Fletcher on a project examining Sports Medicine and Interprofessional Collaboration that resulted in review paper:

Fletcher, S., Breitbach, A. P., & Reeves, S. (2017). Interprofessional Collaboration in Sports Medicine: Findings from a Scoping Review. Health & Interprofessional Practice, 3(2), eP1128. doi:10.7710/2159-1253.1128

We also got the opportunity to conduct research at the 2016 “All Together Better Health” Conference in Oxford, UK where he generously gave me the chance to connect with many new colleagues.  That research also resulted in a paper:

Breitbach, A. P., Reeves, S., & Fletcher, S. N. (2017). Health Care as a Team Sport? —Studying Athletics to Improve Interprofessional Collaboration. Sports, 5(3), 62.

Scott Reeves was a great friend, colleague and scholar.  He elevated the Interprofessional field and many of us owe him a debt of gratitude for the opportunity to know him and collaborate with him.

Prayers for him, Ruth and his family and I promise to work to provide a living legacy to him through my work to improve the lives of my students and persons in their care.