Yale School of Nursing (YSN) has a long-standing partnership with Yale School of Medicine (YSM). As strong and respectful relationships between doctors and nurses are vital in the clinical setting, so too has it become essential in the academic one.
Interprofessional faculty interactions also play a vital role in the relationship. In 2016, YSN professor Robin Whittemore, PhD, APRN, FAAN began working with Rosana Gonzalez-Colaso, PharmD, MPH, YSM assistant professor in YSM’s Physician Associate (PA) Program. They began co-mentoring a Downs Fellowship recipient who was also a PA student, part of GonzalezColaso’s bailiwick. The student used the fellowship to study barriers and facilitators for self-management among adults in Mexico City with type 2 diabetes, an area of research that is an established strength for Whittemore.
Pleased with the success of their co-mentorship, two years later Whittemore and Gonzalez-Colaso began exploring interprofessional collaborations among providers caring for adults with type 2 diabetes in primary care settings in Mexico and the leadership roles of nurses in that context. Denise Marron ’18 MSN and Rosabelle Conover ’18 MSN (also ’18 DIV) participated in this research, which was funded by YSN Global Health Pilot Funds.
After reading about Whittemore’s work in diabetes as well as intervention development, faculty in Monterrey, Mexico invited her to present a research workshop on the development and evaluation of nursing interventions. Dr. Whittemore asked Gonzalez-Colaso to partner on the effort, and they jointly hosted the event at the Universidad Autónoma of Nueva Leon in 2018. The first workshop was so successful that other universities invited the pair to host a similar program for Nursing and Medicine Faculty Lead Partnership Faculty Focus Robin Whittemore, PhD, APRN, FAAN Rosana Gonzalez-Colaso, PharmD, MPH 12 nursing faculty, leaders, and doctoral students in Mexico at Benemerita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, and in Colombia at Universidad de La Sabana in 2019.
Both Whittemore and Gonzalez-Colaso designed materials for content topics in each workshop which included lectures on research methods and small group sessions for participants to apply content to clinical problems of interest. In addition, they connected with local faculty to meet the needs of the trainees and operate smoothly within each cultural context. Together they provided eight lectures and leadership consultations during the small group sessions.
“It has been so rewarding to see the rapid activation of diverse teams of nurses who had not worked together before the workshop,” Gonzalez-Colaso said. “They found shared interest in solving complex clinical or health care system problems to improve outcomes of their patients through nursing interventions. Workshop participants were creative and also collaborative within and across teams.” “It has been a great pleasure working with Rosana,” Whittemore said. “The workshop audience really benefited from our complementary talents and we were able to showcase areas of expertise from both the School of Nursing and the School of Medicine.”
Whittemore and Gonzalez-Colaso look forward to continuing their partnership, and further cementing the strong collaboration between YSN and YSM.