Opportunities for Faculty | Program for Interprofessional Practice and Education

Teaching Opportunities

Facilitating Interprofessional Sessions

UCSF continues to offer its Interprofessional Education Curriculum, Core Principles of Interprofessional Practice (CPIP). This curriculum is a hybrid approach, incorporating both an online platform and face-to-face small group sessions. The online component of the program will incorporate modules and assignments from the UCSF online course, "Collaboration and Communication in Healthcare: Interprofessional Practice." Small groups will consist of first and second year learners from the schools of dentistry, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and the physical therapy program.

Later in their program, students participate in the Interprofessional Standardized Patient Exercise (ISPE). This is an opportunity for students from the schools of dentistry, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and physical therapy, nutrition interns from UCSF and San Francisco State University (SFSU), and social work students from SFSU, to work collaboratively in a team of four with a standardized patient. The sessions take place in the Kanbar Center for Simulation, Clinical Skills, and Telemedicine Education. Faculty preceptors observe team and individual student interactions with the patient, and lead a debriefing session to discuss the student experiences of working in an interprofessional team. The exercise allows students to learn about each other and their roles in health care, and to provide feedback on their team members' communication and teamwork skills.

If you would like to get involved with facilitating one of these sessions or would like more information, please contact [email protected] or complete this interest form.

This general facilitator orientation video shares a bit more about facilitator responsibilities and expectations.

2026-2027 CPIP Sessions:

A facilitator orientation is held prior to all sessions

All CPIP sessions are held in-person at Parnassus campus

Second Year Learners

October 5, 2026 Session #4: How Will We Tackle Difficult Conversations? Navigating Conflict in Healthcare Teams

1-3 pm: Student Breakout Sessions with Facilitators

3-5 pm: Student Breakout Sessions with Facilitators

First Year Learners

October 19, 2026 Session #1: What Do We Do and Who Are We? Introducing IPE Concepts, Roles and Responsibilities

1-1:40 pm / 2:15-2:55 pm: Welcome and Interprofessional Panel Discussion

1:50-3:00 pm: Student Breakout Sessions with Facilitators

3:05-4:15 pm: Student Breakout Sessions with Facilitators

January 11, 2027 Session #2: How Will We Communicate Effectively? Understanding Communication, Accountability, and Task Distribution

1-3 pm: Student Breakout Sessions with Facilitators

3-5 pm: Student Breakout Sessions with Facilitators

February 22, 2027 Session #3: How Will We Tackle Difficult Conversations? Navigating Conflict in Healthcare Teams

1-3 pm: Student Breakout Sessions with Facilitators

3-5 pm: Student Breakout Sessions with Facilitators

April 12, 2027 Session #4: How Can We Work Together? Leadership and Membership

1-3 pm: Student Breakout Sessions with Facilitators

3-5 pm: Student Breakout Sessions with Facilitators

Core Principles of Interprofessional Practice Series

Session #1: What Do We Do and Who Are We? Introducing IPE Concepts, Roles and Responsibilities

Session #2: How Will We Communicate Effectively? Understanding Communication, Accountability, and Task Distribution

Session #3: How Will We Tackle Difficult Conversations? Navigating Conflict in Healthcare Teams

Session #4: How Can We Work Together? Leadership and Membership

Engaging with the New Interprofessional Collaboration Scholars Program

PIPE is excited to announce the launch of the UCSF Interprofessional Collaboration Scholars program (IPCS)! This is an opportunity for UCSF health professions students to engage in further interprofessional collaboration activities and scholarship, through small group work, simulation, projects, scholarship, and interprofessional clinical immersion experiences. To learn more, visit the IPCS CLE website.

We welcome those who are creating interprofessional activities whether in the classroom or clinical setting to contact us so we can include your activities and/or projects in our Scholars program! Our IP Scholars may be able to provide some support to your work or participate in your activities to meet program requirements. Let's chat! Please email Angel Kuo ([email protected]) for more information.

Item Criteria for IPE Designation in UCSF Course Catalog

Below are the guidelines to have your course listed with an IPE designation in the UCSF course catalog.

Interprofessional education occurs when learners from two or more health and/or social care professions engage in learning with, from, and about each other to improve collaboration and the delivery of care. At UCSF, courses submitted for consideration of interprofessional status in the course catalog must meet all of the following criteria:

The course must specify an explanation for the request for interprofessional status (describe in the "justification" field on the course form)
The course must include learners from at least two schools and these should be specified (describe in the "course intended for what type of student" field on the course form)
The prerequisites, if any, for the course should not be specific to one school (describe in the "prerequisites" field on the course form)
The course must be the result of a participatory collaboration among faculty representing two or more professions/schools. (list faculty collaborators and professions/school designation in the "justification" field on the course form)
At least one of the course objectives should be related to interprofessionalism (describe in the "course objectives" field on the course form)

Leadership

Professional Development

Interprofessional Teaching Certificate

The Interprofessional Teaching Certificate is for faculty who want to create and/or maximize interprofessional learning opportunities in any setting. It builds upon the curriculum of the Educators Essentials Certificate and hones in on the knowledge and skills to effectively teach learners from different health professions. To earn the Interprofessional Teaching Certificate, you must fully participate in 2 day-long in-person sessions (Part 1 and Part 2) and complete an experiential activity of your choosing on your own schedule (estimated time commitment 2 hours). More information and registration for the sessions can be found here.

Get involved in the UCSF education community through the Center for Faculty Educators.

Consultations for Works in Progress

The Program for Interprofessional Education has an Interprofessional Practice and Education Scholarship Working Group to promote scholarship in interprofessional practice (IPP) and interprofessional education (IPE) at UCSF. This group provides consultations and encourages those who are engaged in IPE/IPP scholarship to present their works-in-progress at a meeting. This work may be highlighted on the PIPE website to build a repository of UCSF scholarship available for interested faculty, trainees, and students.

If you are interested in joining the group or presenting an IPP/IPE Work-In-Progress for consultation, please contact [email protected]

PIPE Interprofessional Teaching Observation Program (iTOP)

Why choose PIPE Interprofessional Teaching Observation Program?

Interprofessional Education (IPE) is vital for increasing patient safety, maximizing efficiencies, and improving quality of care. As UCSF and other leading institutions start to incorporate more interprofessional curricula into their health professions programs, the need for specially trained IPE educators is crucial.

Interprofessional student groups consist of incredibly diverse learners with a wide range of training experiences and expertise. It is likely a bulk of your teaching experience to this point has been with learners in your profession. Stepping outside this silo and teaching learners of diverse professions requires us to move from being the expert in a learning environment to being a facilitator, charged with encouraging meaningful collaboration and effective communication.

Trained observers in the iTOP program can help educators gain the confidence and skills to succeed in a variety of IPE settings and to address the unique challenges of teaching interprofessional learners.

How Does it Work?

Request to participate in an interprofessional-focused teaching observation by emailing [email protected]
A member of the iTOP staff will contact you and put you in touch with your Observer.
Together you and your Observer will arrange a brief pre-meeting to discuss your specific needs and expectations for the observation, as well as schedule the observation itself and a debrief meeting.
Participate in the observation.
At your scheduled debrief meeting your Observer will discuss their feedback and provide you with confidential, written comments based on your agreed upon criteria.
Once the process is complete, you will be receive a letter documenting your participation with the option of a copy being provided to your department chair.

For more information, please contact [email protected]

Recognition

Excellence in Interprofessional Teaching Award

Academy of Medical Educators/Program for Interprofessional Practice and Education Excellence in Interprofessional Teaching Award.
This peer-nominated award highlights outstanding front-line interprofessional educators, collaborators, and facilitators who might otherwise go unrecognized.

Nominations are now being accepted

Congratulations to the 2025 Awardees

Award Timeline:

May 12	Call open for nominations
June 11	Nomination deadline
Late July	Awardees and nominators notified
Sept. 29, 3-5 pm	Award ceremony

Eligibility:

Who is eligible?

Any faculty who teaches UCSF trainees and students
All UCSF Schools
Includes UCSF Volunteer Clinical Professors
From any UCSF teaching sites and affiliated sites including Community sites, East Bay sites, Kaiser, Mission Bay, Mount Zion, Parnassus, UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals (Oakland and San Francisco), UCSF Fresno, SFVAMC, and ZSFG.
For Excellence in Interprofessional Teaching Award: Interprofessional teachers work with learners from two or more professions and create an environment that enables learners to learn with, from, and about each other to improve collaboration and optimize patient outcomes.

Ineligible Nominees

Submission Information:

Who can nominate?

UCSF faculty members who are among the following:

Members of the Academy of Medical Educators
Department or Division Leadership (e.g. Vice Chairs for Education, Division Chief, or another appointment)
Residency/Felllowship Program Directors
Associate Program Directors
Specialty Coordinators
Clerkship Directors
Course Directors/Faculty Leads/Faculty of Record
Site Directors
SOM Coaches

Essential elements of the narrative portion of the nomination:

Describe nominee's commitment to UCSF's PRIDE Values
Attest to the nominee's teaching qualities and characteristics
Demonstrate how the nominee teaches in a manner that:
- Creates a learning environment that enables learners to learn with, from and about each other to improve collaboration and patient care.
- Teaches to interprofessional competencies:
  1. Use the knowledge of one’s own role and the roles of other health professionals to appropriately assess and address the health care needs of the patients and populations served.
  2. Communicate with other health professionals in a responsive and responsible manner that supports a collaborative approach to the maintenance of health and the treatment of disease in individual patients and populations.
  3. Work with other health professionals to establish and maintain a climate of mutual respect, dignity, diversity, ethical integrity, and trust.

Submission Guidelines:

Each nomination requires two faculty nominators, one primary nominator and one secondary nominator
Submit a joint nomination (3500 characters maximum)
- Submit nomination using the online form
- Preview of the nomination form
The nominee can be within or outside your department/school
Provide supporting data for your nominee's interprofessional teaching, e.g., approximate duration of teaching and numbers of learners, teaching hours, objective evaluation data, learner quotes, faculty/colleague and/or leadership quotes, and MedHub evaluations
Faculty nominators can submit up to two nominations per award type (one as a primary nominator and one as a secondary nominator)

Submissions are reviewed and selected by:

PIPE Professional Development Committee

Notification and Recognition Information

Recipients and Nominators are notified in late July
Recipients receive a certificate and letter copied to their department or division chair
Recipients recognized at the Academy's Celebration of New Members, Tuesday, September 29, 2026

Please contact [email protected] if you have any questions about the Excellence in Interprofessional Teaching Award.

Interprofessional Collaboration Award

Congratulations to the 2025 winners!

We are excited to partner with UCSF Health to recognize exemplary interprofessional teams with the Interprofessional Collaboration Award. Nominations are open in January, and awardees will be announced in April, coinciding with National Interprofessional Healthcare Month.

Teams can be clinical teams or systems improvement teams and should be comprised of a least 3 members from a minimum of 3 different health professions. At least half of the team members should be employees at UCSF Health, BCH-SF or BCH-Oakland. Nominate an interprofessional team by completing this form.

The deadline for nominations is February 23, 2026. If you have questions or if you are interested in serving on the Award Selection Committee, please contact [email protected].

IPE Champions Circle

Recognition for the outstanding level of support educators have demonstrated in interprofessional education (IPE) at UCSF during the academic year. IPE Champions teach 7 or more interprofessional educational sessions in an academic year, consistently contributing towards the goal of ensuring that UCSF graduates are collaborative practice ready.

Congratulations to the 2024 Members

Linda Abramovitz, RN, MS, FAAN
Natalie Anzures, PT, DPT
Amin Azzam, MD
Kim Branciforte, MS, RN
Abbey Roepke, MSN, MPH, FNP-BC
William Woo, MD

Funding Opportunities

PIPE Interprofessional Clinical Opportunities Grant

The funding for the PIPE Interprofessional Clinical Opportunities Grant has been paused and is not available until further notice.

The PIPE Interprofessional Clinical Opportunities Grant was created to support individual clinical sites in piloting new interprofessional immersive experiences for learners (students, residents and/or fellows) in the health professional programs at UCSF (Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Physical Therapy). Selected proposals will receive one-time funding of $10,000.00 to create and pilot a new interprofessional immersive experience.

Guidelines

Applicants will develop a new interprofessional, immersive clinical experience (two weeks or equivalent) in a clinical setting (inpatient or outpatient-based) where UCSF learners (students, residents and/or fellows) from two or more health professions have the opportunity to learn with, from and about each other. (view past recipients)