Northwest Interprofessional Health Collaborative (NIHC)

Founded in 2014, the Northwest Interprofessional Health Collaborative (NIHC, formerly the YVIPEC), hosted at Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences, is a multi-institutional collaborative that provides interprofessional education, faculty professional development, and community service & engagement to advance team-based care and improve community health. Interprofessional education (IPE), as defined by the World Health Organization, occurs when “students from two or more professions learn about, from, and with each other to enable effective collaboration and improve health outcomes.” Interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP) is an extension of that concept into the clinical realm where “multiple health workers from different professional backgrounds work together with patients, families, caregivers, and communities to deliver the highest quality of care.” As defined by the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education, IPE now refers to interprofessional practice and education, emphasizing the critical connection between the two concepts.