URI’s Academic Health Collaborative Continuing Education for Health Professionals Program organizes various programs to provide interprofessional continuing education opportunities for those working in healthcare, including many URI alumni. The planning committee is composed of faculty across the AHC programs and includes: Mary-Jane Kanaczet, MEd, Diane Martins, PhD, RN, Maya Vadiveloo, PhD, RD, Janice Hulme, PT, DHSc, CEEAA. Kanaczet serves as the director of the Office of Continuing Professional Development at the College of Pharmacy. 

For the 2020 year, the Academic Health Collaborative Continuing Education for Health Professionals Program has launched a series of live webinars to provide chronic disease treatment updates designed for healthcare teams who work at RI’s Accountable Entities. The first live webinar, “Treatment Options for Type 2 Diabetes: Updates & Insights” took place in January and is available for home study credit for pharmacists, nurses and physicians. Future programs are being developed to respond to knowledge gaps identified with the RI Department of Health and RI’s Accountable Entities. Click here for more information. “Advancing Workforce Well-Being and Resilience to Build Long-Term Change” was presented on March 11, 2020 to help address clinician burnout. 

Since the creation of the Academic Health Collaborative, this continuing education planning committee has offered a patient safety certificate program for hospital teams and was awarded a Carnegie travel grant for research into Cuba’s public health model for the primary prevention of communicable and chronic diseases. During fall 2018, the Office of Continuing Professional Development held an event, “Building a Culture of Health: Tackling Key Social Determinants to Promote Wellness in RI.” The event included examined the social determinants of health an interprofessional perspective using both didactic and simulated learning experiences. Event speakers were from a variety of healthcare backgrounds, and discussed topics such as decreasing health disparities, barriers to medication adherence, the role of physical therapy in optimizing health outcomes in vulnerable communities, perceived weight discrimination, the consideration of people’s environments when considering medical care, and oral health. Attendees were also introduced to and learn the application and administration of a Social Determinants of Health Assessment Tool. The keynote presentation was given by Susan B. Hassmiller, RN, PhD, FAAN, Senior Advisor for Nursing at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.