ROCKVILLE, Md.—The Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry (ASCO) is representing the optometry profession in a recently released evidence-based interprofessoinal professionalism assessment tool. In 2017, Dr. John Nishimoto, the ASCO liaison to the Interprofessionalism Professionalism Collaborative (IPC) and senior associate dean for professional affairs and clinical education at the Southern California College of Optometry at Marshall B. Ketchum University, co-authored an article on the growth and importance of interprofessional education (IPE) for the Journal of Interprofessional Care. The article, titled “The Intersection of Professionalism and Interprofessional Care: Development and Initial Testing of the Interprofessional Professionalism Assessment,” describes an assessment tool that can measure student performance of IPE between various providers. The toolkit can be accessed through the IPC, and includes the ASCO.

Dr. Nishimoto said, “Representing optometry in IPE and during the creation of this article reinforces how important eye and vision health is when assessing the health of a patient. The hope is that IPE becomes the norm in all healthcare settings and that the patient continues to benefit from it.”

“IPE is a prominent part of the education each optometry student receives in our 23 institutions,” said Dr. David Damari, ASCO president and dean of Michigan College of Optometry at Ferris State University. “ASCO is proud to be part of the IPC and looks forward to many more collaborative efforts in the future.”

Other collaborators of the IPC are: American Association of Colleges of Nursing; American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine; American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy; American Dental Education Association; American Occupational Therapy Association; American Physical Therapy Association; American Psychological Association; American Speech-Language-Hearing Association; Association of American Medical Colleges;
Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges; Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry; and the National Board of Medical Examiners.