Bridges Health: An Interprofessional Clinical Education Model Serving Students, Faculty, and the Community

Winona State University

Background 

Bridges Health is an emerging pedagogic model at Winona State University providing innovative clinical education and training to a wide variety of students to effectively prepare for entry into practice in today’s complex healthcare environment. This innovative model collaborates with community organizations to form academic-community partnerships that serve students and the local community. Through this approach, academic faculty and students are mobilized into these community organizations in form of Bridges Health, an inter-professional student-led, faculty-guided clinic. The clinic provides health services to marginalized, uninsured, and under-served groups in rural settings, who otherwise would not have access to such health care. While doing so, inter-professional students are engaged in a learning environment fostering development in inter-professional practice, leadership, service, care of under-served groups, and social entrepreneurism. All of this occurs while students achieve individual student competencies and learning outcomes associated with their program of study.

Type of Grant Received through Minnesota State Innovation Funding

Large Seed Grant - $25,000 

Sustaining Grant - $10,000