The Nexus is designed to intentionally link the health professions education and health systems for interprofessional workforce development of future and current health professionals to simultaneously demonstrate organizational, learning and health outcomes. 
 

Believing that IPE can make a different is society and people's lives, in 2012, we at the National Center imagined a new vision, called the Nexus, for how higher education and healthcare delivery systems work together. Our view is that to achieve the bold vision of healthcare transformation, health professions education should not be viewed as a panacea. In other words, the traditional educational model is a handoff from the classroom to practice. The thought is that if students of various health professions are educated together, then they, after graduation, will naturally practice more effectively together. We have to ask ourselves uncomfortable questions about whether this is true. 

• In spite of the 20 year renaissance of IPE, why is so much of our education happening at the entry level and so little happening in practice? 
• Among a growing and maturing body of scholarship of IPE, why does it remain difficult for academics to establish a career and achieve promotion and tenure benchmarks as scholars of IPE? 
• How do we more effectively tell our story and develop sustainable partnerships with community and practice systems? 
• How can we leverage expertise in interprofessional teamworking to support practicing teams to meet goals that are more important to them and those they care for? 

Putting the NexusIPE™ Vision into Action

In partnership with teams around the country, the National Center has developed tools and strategies that start with asking those questions and then can situate and accelerate working toward a new vision. Our design approach focused first and foremost on what matters most to the people (patients, families, communities) we serve and then creates workflows and environments where students, clinicians, and health professionals, faculty, and patients learn and thrive together.