TECH Ready, Set, Go
New Office of Interprofessional Education Promotes Team-Based Health Care at TTUHSC El Paso
Office will help drive the “TECH Ready” interprofessional education initiative at the university
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso has established an Office of Interprofessional Education to develop and support educational collaboration between students at the university’s health professional schools.
According to the World Health Organization, interprofessional education has "students from two or more professions learn about, from and with each other to enable effective collaboration and improve health outcomes.”
TTUHSC El Paso has focused on interprofessional education since 2015, when the Foster School of Medicine and Hunt School of Nursing began exploring ways to integrate their respective curricula.
The new Office of Interprofessional Education, organized under the university’s Office of Academic Affairs, will provide a formal infrastructure for interprofessional education at TTUHSC El Paso.
Alyssa C. Benavides, Ph.D., M.P.A., inaugural senior director of the Office of Interprofessional Education, said collaboration will enhance the training of students in the Foster School of Medicine, Hunt School of Nursing, Hunt School of Dental Medicine and Francis Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. When doctors, nurses, dentists and researchers embrace team-based care, patients – and their communities – benefit.
“The Office of Interprofessional Education is excited to advance TTUHSC El Paso’s mission by preparing our students – the Borderplex’ future health professionals – to provide quality, team-based care to improve the health of our community members and population in the Paso del Norte region,” Dr. Benavides said.
“TECH Ready”: A Long-Term Plan for Strengthening Interprofessional Education
The formalizing of interprofessional education at TTUHSC El Paso is the cornerstone of the university’s first five-year Quality Enhancement Plan, which is required for reaccreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
The offices of Academic Affairs and Institutional Research and Effectiveness are spearheading the Quality Enhancement Plan, which has been dubbed “TECH Ready.” TECH stands for Team-based, Effective, Collaborative Healthcare. The ambitious initiative will address the growing need to prepare students to work in teams to provide patient-centered care.
By embedding interprofessional education throughout academic program curricula and increasing opportunities for interprofessional training, TECH Ready will support TTUHSC El Paso students as they train to address health care challenges no single discipline can address on its own.
Dr. Benavides will be responsible for the development and coordination of interprofessional education at the institutional level. Her office will be supported by the TECH Ready Interprofessional Education Curriculum Council, led by committee Chair Scott B. Crawford, M.D., FACEP, FSSH. The council will serve as an advisory group for the university’s interprofessional education efforts, recommend interprofessional curricula for the four schools and advise of opportunities to enhance and grow interprofessional education activities at TTUHSC El Paso.
Other members of the council include:
Rajkumar Lakshmanaswamy, Ph.D., Dean, Francis Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.
Salma Elwazeer, B.D.S., M.D.S., M.P.H., Hunt School of Dental Medicine.
Mariela Lane, M.D., Foster School of Medicine.
Meghan LaMont, M.S.N., R.N., Hunt School of Nursing.
Margie Padilla, Pharm.D., CDCES, BCACP, community member (University of Texas at El Paso School of Pharmacy).
Armando Meza, M.D., Foster School of Medicine.
About Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso
TTUHSC El Paso is the only health sciences center on the U.S.-Mexico border and serves 108 counties in West Texas that have been historically underserved. It’s a designated Title V Hispanic-Serving Institution, preparing the next generation of health care heroes, 48% of whom identify as Hispanic and are often first-generation students.
Established as an independent university in the Texas Tech University System in 2013, TTUHSC El Paso is celebrating 10 years as a proudly diverse and uniquely innovative destination for education and research. According to a 2022 analysis, TTUHSC El Paso contributes $634.4 million annually to our Borderplex region’s economy.
With a mission of eliminating health care barriers and creating life-changing educational opportunities for Borderplex residents, TTUHSC El Paso has graduated over 2,000 doctors, nurses and researchers over the past decade, and will add dentists to its alumni beginning in 2025. For more information, visit ttuhscepimpact.org.