Sen. Leticia Van de Putte (second from left) is welcomed to the Institute by (L-R) Robin Froman, Ph.D., dean of the School of Nursing; Steven A. Wartman, M.D., Ph.D., executive vice president for academic and health affairs at the Health Science Center and dean, School of Medicine and Kathleen Stevens, Ed.D., director of the Academic Center for Evidence-Based Nursing. Sen. Van de Putte offered a welcome to Institute participants.
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This summer, more than 270 medical professionals, from four countries and 35 states, came together to discuss evidence based practice during the Summer Institute for Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) July 15 to 17.

The keynote speaker at the Institute was Kenneth Shine, M.D., executive vice chancellor for health affairs for The University of Texas System. Dr. Shine is responsible for the six U.T. System health components. He closed the conference with a presentation titled, “Guiding the Future of Quality Healthcare: Next Steps.” Sen. Leticia Van de Putte was also in attendance at the institute’s opening ceremony.

“Given the enthusiasm for this conference we are already rolling up our sleeves for the July 2005 institute,” said Kathleen Stevens, Ed.D., R.N., professor in the school of family nursing and director of the Academic Center for Evidence-Based Nursing.

The conference, held at the Crowne Plaza hotel downtown, included seminars on topics such as: urgency of using evidence to improve clinical care; research evidence available for national priority clinical conditions; principles and practical essentials of organizational change; outcome measurement; infrastructure development; and impact of EBP on selected roles within the health professions, including the clinician, quality manager, teacher and researcher.

(L-R) Kenneth Shine, M.D., executive vice chancellor for health affairs for The University of Texas System is welcomed to the Summer Institute for Evidence-Based Practice by Kathleen Stevens, Ed.D., director of the Academic Center for Evidence-Based Nursing and Bob Ferrer, associate professor in the department of family and community medicine co-chair of the Institute. Dr. Shine gave the keynote address at the Institute.

“Many people provided positive feedback from this year’s event,” Dr. Stevens said. “One participant wrote in their event survey ‘On a personal level it was the environment of academia that caused a reinvigoration for research and infusing evidence into my practice. I now have the tools to share this enthusiasm with my colleagues.’”

The Institute was also sought out by the U.S. Cochrane Center to serve as a foundation for their workshop “Finding and Using the Best Evidence for Healthcare Practice.” The day-long workshop preceded the Institute. The workshop focused on finding, appraising, and applying the best research evidence to clinical practice.

The institute is sponsored by the Academic Center for Evidence-Based Practice (ACE). ACE was established as a center of excellence for the School of Nursing in January 2000. It is dedicated to bridging research into practice.