Alec Thingvold is a medical student and an Interprofessional Education (IPE) Scholar.
What do you enjoy most about interprofessional activities?
What I enjoy most about interprofessional activities is seeing how collaboration across healthcare professions can create more seamless and effective care for patients. Each discipline brings a different perspective and expertise, and when those perspectives come together, patient care becomes more comprehensive. These experiences reinforce that healthcare works best when professionals communicate openly and work together toward shared goals.
How do interprofessional activities enhance your learning or training?
Interprofessional activities enhance my training by giving me opportunities to practice collaboration in real settings. At Hope Clinic in Duluth, I worked alongside pharmacy students and other health professions learners to care for underserved patients. By combining our perspectives, we were able to coordinate medication management, address broader clinical concerns, and provide more complete care for patients. I also participated in the EcoHealth Quest experience through the Center for Interprofessional Health, a weekend interprofessional retreat where students from different health programs work together on case studies related to environmental and population health while learning in outdoor settings. This experience emphasized how environmental factors, community health, and collaboration across disciplines all influence health outcomes.
How do you envision incorporating interprofessional collaboration into your future career?
In my future career, I hope to continue working in team based environments where collaboration is central to patient care. Healthcare challenges are complex and require professionals who can communicate effectively and integrate different perspectives to support patients. The experiences I have had through Hope Clinic, EcoHealth Quest, and other interprofessional activities throughout the medicine curriculum have reinforced the importance of teamwork and will shape how I approach patient care and contribute to more coordinated and patient centered healthcare systems.