Washington, D.C. – The Interprofessional Committee of the Association of Schools Advancing Health Professions (ASAHP) is pleased to announce that Saint Louis University is the recipient of the 2025 Award for Institutional Excellence and Innovation in Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Health Care. The University will be recognized and present their award-winning program in October at the 2025 ASAHP Annual Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana.
“Through the innovation and dedication of our multidisciplinary member institutions, ASAHP continues to lead the way in interprofessional health education (IPE) and practice (IPCP). We are proud to be a collaborative resource and advocate for our membership who serve students, faculty, professional accrediting bodies, and practitioners through instruction, research and service,” said ASAHP President Craig R. Jackson, JD, MSW, FASAHP, Dean of the School of Allied Health Professions at Loma Linda University. “Saint Louis University is a well deserving recipient of the 2025 Interprofessional Collaboration Award, and we congratulate them for their outstanding achievement in IPE and IPCP.”
Saint Louis University’s (SLU’s) Interprofessional Education program (IPE) has been supported since 2006 and is embedded in nearly all of SLU health-related academic programs. The IPE Program’s three-course Concentration in Interprofessional Practice embeds six attributes of the SLU Undergraduate Core Curriculum and is open to all SLU students regardless of academic major. SLU also offers an undergraduate Minor in Interprofessional Practice and a graduate Microcredential in Interprofessional Collaboration. In 2023, the school formed an IPE Task Force which developed a new organizational framework for IPE which was implemented in July 2024.
Anthony Breitbach, PhD and director of Interprofessional Education at Saint Louis University said, “This award recognizes Saint Louis University's longstanding commitment to IPE and how interprofessional collaboration is a core value that prepares SLU graduates to be ‘persons for and with others’ in the Jesuit tradition. Our new home, centrally housed in Academic Affairs, provides the opportunity to impact the entire SLU community, both in St. Louis and Madrid.”
External partner Amy Tiemeier of the St. Louis College of Pharmacy at the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis added, “This initiative serves as a model of innovation and excellence in advancing collaborative health care education across academic institutions…What distinguishes SLU’s program is its genuine commitment to continuous quality improvement through meaningful interinstitutional collaboration. This culture of inclusion and innovation has resulted in a demonstrable improvement in the quality and relevance of interprofessional education in the region, preparing students to thrive in team-oriented health care environments.”
And visiting faculty Alison Power University of Northampton, United Kingdom said of SLU’s program, “IPE is embedded within the institution’s ethos.”
About ASAHP
The Association of School Advancing Health Professions (ASAHP) is a national professional organization of 130 universities and employers focused on critical issues affecting health professions education. ASAHP’s mission is to advance health professions education and discovery through interprofessional collaboration, leadership, excellence, and innovation. As much as 60% of the U.S. healthcare workforce may be classified as ‘health professions’ which are distinct from medicine, nursing, and dentistry, yet equally vital to the health and wellbeing of our society.