Healthcare Workforce Partnership 
Spring 2026
Interprofessional Patient Simulation Experience
* each student group is distributed across all four sessions
- Tuesday, February 3, 2026 – Remote – 7:00 – 9:00 PM
- Wednesday, February 4, 2026 – Remote – 5:00 – 7:00 PM
- Tuesday, February 10, 2026 – Remote – 7:00 – 9:00 PM
- Wednesday, February 11, 2026 – Remote – 5:00 – 7:00 PM
Interprofessional teams of students will review an ambulatory patient case collaboratively and strategize the roles for each profession. Students will interact remotely (similar to a telehealth encounter) with a standardized patient to gather information based on their professional roles. Students will then develop a team-based care plan and deliver to the patient and participate in a debrief discussion to review the advantages and challenges of team-based decision making in patient care.
*One faculty facilitator is needed per every 8 students attending
Aphasia Virtual IPE Program
Date: Wednesday, February 25, 2026 at 5:30 – 7:30 PM (Virtual)
Interdisciplinary groups of students will engage in guided discussions, facilitated by SLP students. SLP students will have read Dr. Meyerson’s powerful book, Identity Theft, co-authored with her son, Danny Zuckerman, which addresses the understudied emotional and identity aspects of recovery and rebuilding a life post-stroke. Identity Theft centers on Meyerson’s experience, but also draws on her skills as a social scientist to incorporate stories from several dozen fellow survivors, family members, friends, colleagues, therapists, and doctors she has interviewed. Grounded in this diversity of experience and Dr. Meyerson’s expertise as an identity scholar, Identity Theft provides a window into recovery of extraordinary value to interdisciplinary professionals. The program will culminate with a presentation from Dr. Meyerson and her husband Steve Zuckerman. Want to know more? Read the Blog.
Participation by invite only.
- View Recording: Aphasia Virtual IPE Program 2021
- View Recording: Aphasia Virtual IPE Program 2022
- View Recording: Aphasia Virtual IPE Program 2024
Mental Health First Aid Training
Date: TBD
Mental Health First Aid teaches you how to address mental health and substance use challenges in students, faculty and staff. Training topics include anxiety, depression, suicide, binge drinking and addiction in higher education settings. With MHFA, you decrease stigma, address tough challenges and help students and faculty show up fully in their daily lives and support those around them.
PV-IPEC IPE Health Fair at Baystate Place (Beacon Communities)
Date: TBD
PV IPEC hosts an interprofessional health fair at Baystate Place, a part of Beacon Communities. Nursing, speech language pathology, occupational therapy, dental assistant, nutrition, pharmacy, and other health science students will provide an array of services including: health education, assessments and evaluation. Special thanks to American International College, Elms College, Springfield Technical Community College, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and Western New England University.
Contact: Peta-Gaye Johnson pjohnson@masshirehcwb.com
PV IPEC Interprofessional Poverty Simulation
Date: Thursday, April 30, 2026 at 2-5 PM
Location: Springfield Technical Community College
Could you survive a month in poverty?
The Poverty Simulation provides participants with the opportunity to assume the role of a low-income family member living on a limited budget. The experience is divided into four 15-minute sessions, each of which represents one week in which you must provide for your family and maintain your home. As one participant commented, “This poverty simulation dramatically demonstrates how much time and energy many families have to give just to survive from day to day. It quickly dispels the myth “that people would do fine if they would only go out and get a job!”
PV IPEC Spring Interprofessional Day
Date: Tuesday, April 14, 2026
The complexity of healthcare in the United States has increased the need for health professionals to work together and create new models of team-based care. In order to prepare health profession students for collaborative practice, accreditors of health professions academic programs are requiring the inclusion of interprofessional education. Students from medicine, physician assistant studies, nursing, pharmacy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, social work and others under the leadership of PV-IPEC work together in activities designed to target the IPEC Core Comps (Teamwork, Roles and Responsibilities, Values/Ethics, and Interprofessional Communication). Interprofessional education is defined as occurring when students from two or more professions learn about, from and with each other to enable effective collaboration and improve health outcomes.
Program:
- Ambulatory Care Simulation
- Participating programs: Western New England University (OT & Pharm), American International College (RN), and Bay Path University (PA)
- Registration is closed.
Examples
- Ambulatory Care Simulation @ Western New England University
- Opioid Use Disorder vs Addiction @ Western New England University
- Interprofessional Escape Room and Team STEPPS Activity @ Holyoke Community College
- Poverty Simulation @ Bay Path University
- Emotional Intelligence Through Visual Learning @ Baystate Medical Center
- To Err Is Human Movie @ Mercy Medical Center
- Ethical Case Deliberation @ Springfield College
- Dementia Simulation @ Westfield State University
PV-IPEC IPE Health Fair at United Way of Pioneer Valley
Date: Tuesday, May 5, 2026 at 12-2 PM (in person)
PV IPEC to host an interprofessional health fair at United Way of Pioneer Valley. Nursing, speech language pathology, occupational therapy, dental assistant, nutrition, pharmacy, and other health science students will provide an array of services including: health education, assessments and evaluation. Special thanks to American International College, Elms College, Springfield Technical Community College, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and Western New England University.
Contact: Peta-Gaye Johnson pjohnson@masshirehcwb.com
Fall 2025
Interprofessional Viewing of the “To Err is Human” Documentary
In Person — October 8, 2025 — Holyoke Community College, 5:00–7:00 PM
Remote — October 22, 2025 — 7:00–9:00 PM
Your program or facility is invited to participate in the Interprofessional Viewing of the “To Err is Human” Documentary. Sessions are scheduled on the evenings of October 8th (in person) / October 22nd (remote). Multiple sessions are planned to accommodate all participants from all interested programs and facilities. In order to create interprofessional groups, we request that programs and facilities divide attendees across the two sessions, if possible. There will be a separate breakout session for practitioners.
The purpose of this activity is to bring together healthcare practitioners, students, and professionals from multiple disciplines to view and discuss the documentary To Err is Human in an interprofessional setting. Through this shared experience, participants will deepen their awareness of the prevalence and impact of medical errors, explore strategies to improve patient safety, and strengthen skills essential for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice—such as mutual respect, understanding of roles, effective communication, and teamwork—to enhance patient outcomes and healthcare quality.
Context – While there has been significant progress over the past decade in improving patient safety, medical errors continue to be prevalent in both acute care settings and ambulatory care settings resulting in deaths, injuries, and healthcare expenditures in the United States. Massachusetts is no different as the Betsy Lehman Center for Patient Safety reported in 2019.
Interprofessional Collaborative Practice (IPCP) has been proven to improve patient outcomes, reduce costs, and improve job satisfaction. IPCP involves teamwork. However in order to function as a team, members need to maintain a climate of mutual respect and shared values, understand the roles and responsibilities of the members, communicate effectively, and apply the principles of effective teamwork. This movie viewing and discussion are aimed at increasing your awareness of medical errors, considering solutions, and learning from, with, and about your current and future healthcare team members.
PV-IPEC IPE Health Fair at Baystate Place (Beacon Communities)
Dates: Friday, October 17th @ 10:00 – 12:00 PM; Tuesday, October 21st at 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM; Wednesday, November 5th @ 3:00 – 5:00 PM
PV IPEC hosts an interprofessional health fair at Baystate Place, a part of Beacon Communities. Nursing, occupational therapy, dental assistant, nutrition, pharmacy, and other health science students will provide an array of services including: health education, assessments and evaluation. Special thanks to American International College, Bay Path University, Elms College, Springfield College, Springfield Technical Community College, and Western New England University. Registration is closed.
Contact Peta-Gaye Johnson pjohnson@masshirehcwb.com
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