Barret Michalec

Barret Michalec, PhD, is the Director of the Center for Advancing Interprofessional Practice, Education and Research (CAIPER), and an Associate Professor in the Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation at Arizona State University. Dr. Michalec’s work explores socialization and professionalization processes and mechanisms nested within health professions education, inter-personal/professional interactions in the healthcare setting, disparities in health and the health professionals, and the experience of empathy among future and current healthcare providers.  

As a Macy Faculty Scholar, Dr. Michalec will spotlight the value of teaching empathy in an interprofessional education setting through his program, Interprofessional Training in Empathy, Affect, & Mindfulness (I-TEAM).  With I-TEAM, Dr. Michalec introduces the notion of developmentally progressive "workouts" to stretch and strengthen health profession students' empathy "muscles" as well as enhance communication skills, self- and other-awareness, and potentially promote "empathic resilience."   

Christine Arenson, MD, co-director of the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education at the University of Minnesota, serves as Dr. Michalec's mentor.