Awarded by the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education to Dr. Peter H. Vlasses, PharmD, DSc(Hon.), FCCP

The National Center is pleased to announce the 2020 Pioneer Award recipient, Dr. Peter H. Vlasses, Executive Director Emeritus of the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education. The Pioneer Award recognizes an interprofessional practice and education pioneer for the foundational role they have played in advancing the field.

Dr. Vlasses’ 20-year tenure as Executive Director of the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) was instrumental in providing leadership among accreditation agencies on accreditation requirements providing for interprofessional education for learners around collaborative care.

Under Dr. Vlasses’ leadership, ACPE partnered with the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) to establish Joint Accreditation for Interprofessional Continuing Education to support health care team-focused education that improves patient care and streamlines the accreditation process. The National Center has been a Jointly Accredited provider since 2015. There are currently over 100 accredited organizations and Joint Accreditation has added dentistry, dietetics, optometry, physician assistants, psychology, and social work to the interprofessional continuing education collaboration.

While in this leadership role, Dr. Vlasses led ACPE to become a founding member of the Health Professions Accreditors Collaborative (HPAC), a group of 25 accreditation agencies committed to improving coordination and collaboration between accreditors on improving interprofessional education and practice. Dr. Vlasses remains the volunteer convener of HPAC in his retirement. In 2019, HPAC partnered with the National Center to develop Guidance on Developing Quality Interprofessional Education for the Health Professions, a widely-used framework for organizations to strengthen interprofessional education programs in the context of collaboration between accreditors.

Dr. Vlasses exemplifies the spirit of the Pioneer Award in his leadership, connecting and empowering diverse organizations to collectively advance the field of interprofessional practice and education. Click on the video below to watch an interview between Dr. Vlasses and Dr. Barbara Brandt, director of the National Center, discussing his career and the award. Congratulations to Dr. Vlasses!