SON Home | UW Home | MyUW | UW Bothell | UW Tacoma | HealthLinks | Contact the School | Search SON | Internal Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Joins With Puget Sound Group Health to Fund Innovative Curriculum Research by UW Nursing, Medicine Profs Described as the "forefront of change in medical and nursing education," Deborah Ward, PhD, associate professor of nursing, and Daniel Lessler, MD, associate professor of medicine, have been selected as grantees of the Partnerships for a Quality Education Program, a national effort funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) that is being established at only nine academic medical centers in the country. Ward and Lessler are co-investigators in a collaborative study involving the School of Nursing, School of Medicine and Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound. They will receive $300,000 over two years to develop an innovative curriculum for clinicians in the management of diabetes under the Take Care to Learn: Teaching Clinical Care Management program, one of three focal areas funded by the RWJF to improve both health education and patient care. Partnerships for Quality Education (PQE) fosters collaboration between academic medical centers and managed care organizations. In addition to working to improve primary care medical education, PQE supports the design of new approaches to prepare nurse practitioner and medical students for collaborative interprofessional practice. Ward is involved both locally and nationally in the changing format and content of health service delivery. In addition to teaching in health politics, policy, and systems, she is Director of the de Tornyay Center on Healthy Aging and is a member and immediate past chair of the consumer-elected Board of Trustees of Group Health Cooperative, the Pacific Northwest's pioneering health maintenance organization. She is also a core faculty affiliate of the University of Washington Center for Health Sciences Interprofessional Education, which functions to support interprofessional education and research across the University of Washington Health Sciences and Information Schools. Lessler is Associate Professor of Medicine, and Associate Medical Director, Ambulatory Care Services at Harborview Medical Center. His administrative and academic interests focus on improving the care of patients with chronic illness, particularly among vulnerable populations. For the last several years, Lessler has led clinic-based diabetes care quality improvement efforts at Harborview Medical Center. For additional information, contact Dr. Deborah Ward at debward@u.washington.edu, or Dr. Daniel Lessler at dlessler@u.washington.edu. Return to News and Events   Copyright © 2008 University of Washington 1959 NE Pacific Street, Seattle, Washington 98195