About the Loyola I-PATH Students

Our public health graduate students come from a broad spectrum of ethnic, geographical, and training backgrounds. Their experience ranges from student to professional; some of our students are practicing nurses and doctors. These students are studying core disciplines of nursing, public health, bioethics and dietetics. Diversity in our students translates to a wide-ranging perspective, which offers a wonderful think tank ready to be tapped and used to bring fresh outlook on the challenges of today’s healthcare landscape, especially when it comes to multiple chronic conditions (MCC).

I-Path students remain willing to share and collaborate, and absorb the insights from their peers. These interprofessional collaborative efforts are key in problem solving, and creating change by giving fresh perspective to the multiple levels of healthcare.

Teamwork between the Graduate Studies:

Interprofessional teams each bring special skill-sets “to the table”. Nursing students will have expertise in systems, outcomes management, informatics, infection prevention and/or oncology; dietetics students have the ability to provide medical nutrition services to patients and populations requiring special nutritional services, e.g. oncology, obesity, which leads to heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic conditions; and public health students, will have the community and policy perspectives to support population-based projects. In this I-Path practicum, students will have the opportunity to learn to work collaboratively within interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP) teams to increase access, coordinate care, and promote population health with an emphasis on multiple chronic conditions (MCC).

The expected outcome is that students who participate in the project will have the knowledge, attitudes and skills to practice effectively in a transformed healthcare system. This transformation is consistent with the vision of the Affordable Care Act which champions population- and patient-centered care and medical homes. Patients and community members participating in the project will benefit from population-focused health promotion interventions in their community as well as enhanced care coordination and improved self-management skills for chronic illnesses, leading to better health outcomes.