EMU Today

YPSILANTI - Eastern Michigan University College of Health and Human Services (CHHS) will celebrate the opening of the Center for Interprofessional Education, Research and Practice (CIERP), designed to prepare students for multidisciplinary teams in health care and human service settings. The celebration is on Wednesday, April 12, from 4:30 - 6:30 p.m. in the Marshall Building’s second-floor atrium, located at 801 W. Circle Drive. This event is open to the EMU community and public and an RSVP is requested.

CHHS’s interprofessional work benefits faculty, staff, students, and community members, including hospital systems, community agencies, and other healthcare facilities. Andrea Zakrajsek, co-director of CIERP and interim associate dean of CHHS, looks forward to celebrating with the center’s various stakeholders.

“It has been a joy to see the work of CHHS faculty, staff, and community partners  come to a pinnacle point in becoming an official EMU center, and I am thrilled to be a part of planning the celebration of this esteemed event,” said Zakrajsek. “I look forward to the center’s increased visibility, as well as further  reach of our impactful work with students, community, and the larger healthcare network.”

The center’s mission is to promote excellence in educational preparation and practice in prevention, wellness, and health care that connects disciplines, promotes teamwork, fosters mutual understanding, strengthens research, and advances health for individuals and communities. The center uses interprofessional education (IPE), a priority for accreditation in most health care disciplines today, to provide students with the foundation to engage with one another and prepare for excellence in practice.

The new center will coordinate various IPE opportunities for faculty, instructors, and students to learn from each other, promote teamwork, communication, understanding of one another’s roles and responsibilities, and reflect on values critical in today’s health care environment. The center will encourage faculty and staff to design, implement, and evaluate meaningful interprofessional learning experiences that ultimately benefit patient and client outcomes.

The new center is made possible through seed funding from the Dr. Donald F.M. Brown Interprofessional Education Endowment and the work of many, including former associate dean of CHHS, Chris Karshin, and the CHHS IPE Steering Committee.

To register for the event, visit the CIERP celebration form. To learn more about CIERP, visit the webpage.

About Eastern Michigan University
Founded in 1849, Eastern is the second oldest public university in Michigan. It currently serves more than 14,000 students pursuing undergraduate, graduate, specialist, doctoral and certificate degrees in the arts, sciences and professions. In all, more than 300 majors, minors and concentrations are delivered through the University's Colleges of Arts and Sciences; Business; Education; Engineering and Technology; Health and Human Services; and its graduate school. National publications regularly recognize EMU for its excellence, diversity, and commitment to applied education. Visit the University’s rankings and points of pride websites to learn more. For more information about Eastern Michigan University, visit the University's website. To stay up to date on University news, activities and announcements, visit EMU Today.