Facilitators needed: Foundations of Interprofessional Collaborative Practice Program
Introduction
This is a request for your participation as a facilitator in the Foundations of Interprofessional Collaborative Practice (FICP) Program. The annual FICP program would not be possible without the contributions of faculty and staff facilitators who contribute their time and leadership. We continue to be very grateful for those who have participated in the past and we hope to grow the pool of facilitators through new faculty and staff who are willing to join the team.
The 2026 FICP course will be entirely online again this year. Approximately 170 AHS students from Health Information Management, Nutrition, Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy participate. There will be 2 synchronous immersion sessions – one on Thursday, April 16, 2026, from 1-3 pm and a second on Friday, April 17, 2026, from 1-3 pm. The virtual synchronous immersion session is 2 hours of interprofessional group activities. Students will prepare for the immersion session through preparatory work that includes watching a panel discussion video featuring the UI Health Sickle Cell team and completing 3 online asynchronous modules. Over 1,000 students in total will be participating in the FICP program. As in the past, students will be assigned to interprofessional teams of 10-12 students, and there will be 1 facilitator per group. Students will attend one of the two sessions.
This year will be quite like last year, with Zoom as the primary meeting platform. One of the things we will focus on in facilitator training this year is how to increase student engagement in virtual small-group discussions. We know this can be a challenge, and we are gathering tips from facilitators that we will share.
We hope that you will participate as a facilitator at one OR BOTH of these sessions. Both faculty and staff are invited to participate. Training in facilitating interprofessional teams is available to all facilitators.
This link will take you to a Qualtrics survey where you can sign up as a facilitator for either April 16 or April 17– or both. It is also your opportunity to sign up for facilitator training, which will be held on March 30 and March 31, 2026. Please attend one of those sessions if you can, but it is not a requirement. If you have any questions please contact Mary Keehn - mkeehn@uic.edu.
Here is the link to the survey: https://uic.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_b7x2JtxO6ojfYuG
Please respond to the survey as soon as possible. Apologies in advance, since you may get this request several times as we work to ensure an adequate number of facilitators. Additional information will be provided to all those who respond to the survey, indicating they will participate, but please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.