Representing UW Health Sciences, UWSOP Dean Sean Sullivan spoke this week with the Washington State Senate Committee to discuss the state\u2019s health care workforce pipeline.<\/p>\n
Sullivan shared with the committee the UW\u2019s plans to partner with the State to build a new Interprofessional education (IPE) learning facility. The $100 million project, which is expected to meet completion in 2022-2023, will serve as a cutting-edge training hub for the six UW Health Sciences schools that train nearly 6,000 professional degree students and residents (post-graduate, specialty training) and 3,400 graduate students.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn all cases, our professional degree students train with each other in IPE settings,\u201d Sullivan noted. \u201cBecause of the importance of this project, the UW and the Deans are adding an additional $30 million to the effort to create a state-of-the-art training space \u2013 providing interprofessional digital and virtual simulation and other technology-enhanced learning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sullivan added that although there is a shortage of health professionals in the behavioral health sciences \u2013 and the six UW Deans are committed to increasing the supply of these providers for Washington state \u2013 health care workforce gaps won\u2019t be solved by simply producing more health care professionals. He provided two examples illustrating the importance of regulatory\/reimbursement reform and innovation as effective combatants against these challenges:<\/p>\n