title: Public health, medicine, and dentistry as partners in community health: a pioneering initiative in interprofessional, practice-based education.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  As public health challenges grow more complex, the call for professional education to be interprofessional, collaborative, and grounded in real world practice has intensified.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  In this article, we describe the development, implementation, and results of one pioneering course at Boston University that aims to prepare public health, medical, and dental students for their combined roles in community health settings.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Schools of Public Health, Medicine, and Dental Medicine jointly offered the course in partnership with 3 community organizations. Participants include MPH, MD, and DMD candidates.
  
  
  METHODS
  The course design integrates the use of "The Challenge Model" (created by Management Sciences for Health) with training in public health consultation techniques (eg, community-based participatory research, logic models, monitoring and evaluation). Teams of 6 to 8 medical and public health students collaborate with managers and staff of a community health center to address 1 organizational challenge and recommend a sustainability plan.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Postcourse evaluations revealed that a cross-disciplinary, practice-based education model is feasible and can meet students' learning objectives and exceed expectations of community partners. We overcame formidable obstacles related to the "silo'ed" nature of academic institutions and the competing priorities within overburdened community organizations. We found that sustained project implementation was attained at some but not all sites, yet all sites highly valued the perspective and contribution of student teams.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Dynamic and replicable, this practice-based education model is adaptable to professional schools whose work intersects in the real world and calls for collaborative leadership.
authors: Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University Schoolof Public Health, Boston, MA 02118, USA. loism@bu.edu
authors: Lois
authors: L
authors: McCloskey
authors: Rebecca
authors: R
authors: Condon
authors: Christopher W
authors: CW
authors: Shanahan
authors: James
authors: J
authors: Wolff
authors: Corinna
authors: C
authors: Culler
authors: Richard
authors: R
authors: Kalish