Health Systems Science and Interprofessional Practice
Health Systems Science and Interprofessional Practice (HSSIP) at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine involves the study of how health systems work as well as the science of teamwork and roles between various health care providers.
HSSIP is studied throughout all four years of medical school. Through this focused approach, our students emerge with a better understanding of the way health care is delivered and how to make a positive impact on the health of patients and populations. The HSSIP curriculum provides students a program across all four years of medical school that will better equip them to deal with the challenges of health systems in practice.

Year 1
Radford University Carilion to include nursing and physician assistant students
Interdisciplinary teams formed of 8 to 9 students
Personal reflection
Conflict resolution
Successful team work
Investigating roles, responsibilities, and potential biases of different health care professions
Understanding personal values
Learning group leadership skills
Participating in a Health Care Team Challenge
Nutrition self-reflection
Service learning community partnerships
Year 2
Team shadowing and observation experiences
Simulation experiences
Nurse shadowing experiences
Ethical and legal issues
Health care ethics team challenge
Medical humanities
Public health and medicine in connection to interprofessionalism
Years 3 & 4
Interprofessional learning objectives included in all clerkship rotations
Domain Days (series of special clinical topics)
Disaster Day with Radford University Carilion that includes over 200 students
Telephone medicine simulation with Radford University Physical Therapy students
Patient Safety/Quality of Care simulation
Final assessment of teamwork skills
Many thanks to our current partners who make interprofessionalism so successful!
- Radford University Carilion
- Virginia Western Community College
- Various other community organizations
Community Service Hours Completed...
12000