Instructor Elaine Lillie receives interprofessional partnership award from McMaster Medicine

McMaster’s Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine is a neighbour of the Waterloo School of Pharmacy: both are located at the Health Sciences Campus in downtown Kitchener. Over the years, the schools have taken advantage of their proximity to collaborate on projects and events.

In December, McMaster Medicine recognized Waterloo Pharmacy’s Elaine Lillie as an invaluable partner and honoured her with the Excellence in Collaboration Award for Interprofessional Education.

Margo Mountjoy presents Elaine Lillie with her award.

Professor Elaine Lillie is Director of Interprofessional Education and Curriculum Development at Waterloo Pharmacy. As such, she plays an integral role in building partnerships with other institutions so that pharmacy students can benefit from interprofessional education (IPE).  When Lillie began building Waterloo Pharmacy’s IPE program, she helped found the Interprofessional Educators Collaborative (IPEC). IPEC includes McMaster Medicine and other post-secondary institutions in Waterloo Region and develops educational events for students of health-related disciplines.

Lillie has continued to deepen Waterloo Pharmacy’s relationship with its neighbour through collaborative projects. In 2016 she partnered with McMaster’s Dr. Michael Lee-Poy to build TransEd, the first online module for healthcare students that explored how to provide exemplary care to patients who are transgender. TransEd was well-received and is now used in both the pharmacy and medical curricula.

In 2017, Lillie began a larger project on professionalism, managed with McMaster’s Dr. Margo Mountjoy. Lillie and Mountjoy led efforts to build the project’s first module which examines harassment in the classroom and the clinical practice environment. The team has plans to expand the project, developing additional modules under the professionalism umbrella.

“Elaine has a diligent work ethic; she is a worker of quality and efficiency with an eye always on the interprofessional component and the learner experience,” says Mountjoy. “It has been my personal pleasure and honour to work with her on the professionalism project - a complex and challenging project, for which we have a shared vision.   Elaine exemplifies interprofessional education and is well deserving of this award.”

By fostering collaboration between institutions, Lillie contributes to improving educational experiences for students from numerous healthcare backgrounds.