Interprofessional Academic-Homeless Patient Aligned Care Team (HPACT) Clinic

Andrew Shaner, MD, Margaret Stuber, MD, Roya Ijadi-Maghsoodi, MD, & Ken Wells, MD, MPH
Mon & Thu AM, Tue & Wed PM

The IA-HPACT is a cutting-edge special VA program focusing only on homeless Veterans until they are stably housed and able to independently care for their physical, social, and mental health. The team is interprofessional and includes internists, nurse practitioners, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, pharmacists, and clerks. This highly collaborative approach, with access to a vast array of housing and rehabilitative services, allows us to help veterans we could not previously reach. This is an ideal clinic for residents interested in learning about integrated care, working with under-resourced populations, and learning more about the social determinants of health, while caring for our Veteran homeless population—which is the largest in the nation, and taking part in the federal initiative to end Veteran homelessness.

IA-HPACT is one of seven sites funded by the VA to teach trainees from multiple disciplines how to work as an interprofessional team. In this innovative training program, psychiatric residents work closely with faculty and trainees from other disciplines and professions including advanced practice nurses, social work, internal medicine and psychology. This opportunity prepares residents to work in the rapidly expanding field of interprofessional healthcare.

The curriculum focuses on three main topics (1) interprofessional teamwork, emphasizing integration of mental healthcare into primary care, (2) the social determinants of health, and (3) humanistic healthcare for marginalized patients. The resident will not only learn, but also teach trainees from other disciplines. The clinic offers case conferences, didactics, team huddles, and opportunities to be involved in quality improvement initiatives, if interested.

Psychiatry residents are a very important part of the trainee team. We especially recommend clinics on Monday and Thursday mornings, but we can arrange excellent interprofessional experiences during half-day clinics also on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday afternoons.