Serendipitously Looking Through a New "Lens" with Polarity Thinking

Once in a while in your professional life, the stars seem to align and the universe introduces you to a dynamic colleague who you hit it off with right away. But what is truly amazing is meeting a dynamic duo…an interprofessional duo at that… who you have an instant connection with that leads to great things. At BE Collaborative, we were fortunate to have this experience ourselves recently and want to share about the incredible partnership between BE Collaborative and Missing Logic.

Michelle Troseth and Tracy Christopherson are the geniuses behind the consulting firm called Missing Logic. Together, they work to bring balance and resilience into the lives of healthcare professionals. Through workshops, retreats and podcasts, their energy and passion for helping others is obvious in everything they do.

I was fortunate to meet Michelle and Tracy through the Global Forum on Innovation in Health Professions Education when they presented a session on Polarity Thinking several years ago. Since then, we’ve stayed in touch and in the same IPE circles which has kept our friendship and working relationship going strong. Then, this past spring, they invited us to be guests on their “Healthcare’s Missing Logic” podcast.

Tony talked about the alignment of interprofessional education with collaborative practice and I talked about stress and burnout in the nutrition and dietetics profession. Admittedly, this was my first podcast so I wasn’t totally sure what to expect. I should have known, though, that this would be an incredibly fun hour together. It felt like talking to old friends about one of my favorite topics. When the podcast came out, they made me sound so good, I made all my family listen to it and sent it to as many people as I could think of! It’s this enthusiasm and genuine caring that make these women two of my favorite IPE rock stars out there.

I love to listen to their weekly updates and how they incorporate current events with a broad variety of guests on their show. If you haven’t listened to them yet, you are missing out!

Listen to "Episode #15 What Nobody Tells You About Aligning Interprofessional Education and Practice" featuring Dr. Tony Breitbach:

https://www.missinglogic.com/new-podcast/2020/4/30/episode-15

Listen to "Episode #36 Burnout Through the Eyes of a Dietitian Nutritionist" featuring Dr. Katie Eliot:

https://www.missinglogic.com/new-podcast/2020/4/29/episode-36

Learn more about Missing Logic: https://www.missinglogic.com/

My First CAB!

My First CAB!
By: Katie Eliot PhD, RDN

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of attending my first Collaborating Across Borders (CAB) VII meeting in Indianapolis.  For the past several years, I’ve wanted to go to CAB and it has never worked out.  But this year was my year!  In my first year as a full time faculty member at The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, I was able to join a team of 10 other faculty members from several different professions across campus.  CAB is the premier interprofessional meeting for US and Canada that attracts scholars from around the world.  A few highlights of my time at the meeting were…

Getting to know my new IPE colleagues.  
Stepping out of the office and experiencing a professional meeting together is a great way to get to know your co-workers better.  Thanks to the expert planning of our fearless leader and Assistant Director of Interdisciplinary programs at the OUHSC, our team had plenty of time to catch up over dinner and always found a table together at the combined meeting sessions.  One of the best parts was that two 3rd year medical students joined the team on the trip.  I loved getting to hear their perspectives and energy for their future careers in team-based health care.  Engaging with students always leaves me feeling more energetic about my own work and hopeful about our future health care work force.

Catching up with colleagues from around the country
The exciting thing about CAB is that it brings together scholars and educators from around the world and the more I dig into this work, the deeper embedded I become in the fabric of those with the same mission of improving health care through IPE.  In fact, the opening reception felt like a reunion, complete with outstanding food, excited conversations and even a photo booth!  I re-connected with former colleagues from Saint Louis University, collaborators from several institutions and members of national groups like IPEC and the National Academy of Medicine Global Forum.  The best part was getting to hear about the exciting things going on in others’ research and practice from so many different perspectives.

Learning more about IPE assessment
I was tasked with going to sessions that focused on assessment, which is a huge interest of mine.  In session after session, I was engaged in conversations about best practices for evaluating our students’ learning in IPE.  There were so many outstanding instruments and ideas that I was excited to bring back to campus and employ in our program here.  I look forward to seeing how we can incorporate these to make our learning environments even more impactful.

In all, it was a great experience and I am already thinking about CAB VII which will be held somewhere in Quebec, Canada in 2021!

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! 

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.