SFVA Center of Excellence in Primary Care Education (CoEPCE)

The mission of the SFVA Center of Excellence in Primary Care Education (CoEPCE) is to better prepare health care professionals to become future leaders in patient-centered, team-based care, to ensure that our nation's Veterans receive top quality health care in the years ahead. 

We train nurse practitioner residents and students and internal medicine residents alongside pharmacy, psychology, registered dietician, optometry, podiatry, and social worker trainees. Through various curriculum, team-building retreats, and team ‘huddles’ trainees learn:

• Interprofessional collaboration
• Patient-centered communication and shared decision making
• Sustained relationships across all aspects of health care delivery
• Performance improvement

Each interdisciplinary team has its own panel of patients. Daily 'huddles' allow them to address healthcare challenges within the group, to be solved from a multidisciplinary perspective with coaching from inter-professional faculty. Teams also include clinic staff RNs, LVNs, and clerical associates. This model focuses on team-building, inter-professional collaboration, and communication. 

The Education in Patient Aligned Care Teams (EdPACT) Program at the CoEPCE

EdPACT, or Education in Patient Aligned Care Teams, prepares health care professionals to become future leaders in patient-centered, team-based care, to ensure that our nation’s Veterans receive top quality health care. 

In 2011, the San Francisco VA Health Care System (SFVAHCS) was selected as one of five sites across the United States to develop and implement a model of patient-centered inter-professional education. With a five-year, $5 million grant, the SFVAHCS, in collaboration with the UCSF schools of medicine and nursing and UCSF Medical Education, created the EdPACT program. 

Physician Rebecca Shunk and Nurse Practitioner Anna Strewler co-direct the EdPACT program along with a large inter-professional team. 

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EdPACT Resources