Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Curriculum and Student Affairs Committee

	Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Curriculum and Student Affairs Committee

Guest: Natalie Norcross—Asst. Director, Health Sciences Libraries, IAIMS Investigator

Natalie Norcross explained that IAIMS (Integrated Advanced Information Management Systems) is a statewide project funded by the National Library of Medicine. It is intended to develop a sustainable regional health-information technology architecture that supports the teaching, research and service missions of the UW-Madison Health Sciences. It is the only IAIMS grant in Wisconsin and it is unique in that the region includes the entire state.

Ms. Norcross distributed handouts that described the goal, aims, work and timeline for WI-IAIMS. The aims are four-part:
1) Technology teaching and learning solutions that assure complete access to university-held teaching resources by authorized persons anywhere in the state
2) Cooperation with community partners to create consumer-focused, community-responsive electronic resources
3) Implementation of a statewide clinical trials network
4) Creation of a clinical data warehouse that is HIPAA-compliant for research and aggregate analysis

Ms. Norcross also discussed the work of IAIMS:
1) Create the organizational, technical and informatics infrastructures—specifically OISTaR (Office of Information Science, Technology, and Research)
2) Technical infrastructure based on principles consistent with the ‘middleware architecture’ (standards for ability to share) of the next generation internet
3) Accomplish local goals through collaborative action
4) Create, demonstrate and deploy—the Library’s role involves the educational tools

Ms. Norcross talked next about Information Technology Teaching and Learning, ITTL—the goal of which is to permit secure, complete access to University-held teaching resources by authorized health science students and preceptors located anywhere in the state. The expected ITTL outcomes will be to enhance the technical infrastructure and to expand upon what already exists. ITTL outcomes that relate to information literacy resources and interface with the goals of this committee include the development of ways to integrate information literacy skills into the curriculum and continuing education.

A final decision on funding for WI-IAIMS is expected in June 2001 with OISTaR expected to be operational in July 2001 and project activities are expected to begin in Jan 2002.

Committee discussion then moved to focus on recommendations for increasing the interdisciplinary effectiveness of the Health Sciences Learning Center. Specific curricular activities that address needs across health sciences disciplines include:

Physical assessment skills
Prevention of tobacco use and tobacco cessation
Prevention of “problem-drinking” and other substance abuse
Interview skills—including taking a sexual history and “motivational” interviewing to address primary and secondary prevention activities
Issues and growing health needs of the aging patient population
Cultural competence and foreign language knowledge and communication cross-culturally—Spanish courses as one prominent opportunity
Emergency assessment and management
Service-learning—Connie Krauss in Pharmacy as a resource; the School of Pharmacy currently requires 16 hours of service-learning for graduation
Errors in health care

The unique designs for each discipline’s teaching areas—model exam rooms as an example—was seen as a challenge to interdisciplinary education in the Learning Center.

A broader discussion of the challenges for interdisciplinary health sciences’ curricula included the following comments:
Curriculum specialists within schools are needed. They need to be more than just web masters and should have curriculum design skills. Staff who are technologically knowledgeable are certainly needed as well.

S. Spear will compile the recommendations made by the committee members in the previous several meetings and will forward a draft to members this summer for their review and comments. The final report from the committee of recommendations for enhancing interdisciplinary activities in the Health Sciences Learning Center will be submitted to Sybil Better in the Chancellor’s office.

No committee meetings are scheduled for this summer. Meetings will resume in the Fall.

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