Graduate education in nursing is critical to the development of leaders in the healthcare field. However, recent studies indicate that the interdisciplinary model of practice required for excellence in the clinical environment is not well served by the discipline-specific perspective of current educational models. The Institute of Medicine's (IOM) recent report on health care education, “ Health Professions Education: A Bridge to Quality,” emphasizes the need for reform (2003). The IOM concluded that health care leaders must be able to practice in complex, interdisciplinary teams and use information management tools to continually advance their knowledge of quality improvement processes and best clinical practices. They identified five core competencies for professional practice and recommended that these be integrated into health professions education.

This presentation discusses an interdisciplinary core curriculum for graduate education that incorporates the five competencies identified in the IOM report. We will demonstrate how each of these competencies is integrated in a Master of Science in Nursing curriculum and discuss expected outcomes that address the development of leaders with the requisite knowledge and skills to meet the IOM's challenge for reform.