I have so much hope for the future of healthcare education. That hope is embodied by the students and alumni of Ë®ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ Franklin University, who dedicate their professional lives to helping people be healthy.

RFU is well-positioned to help shape the future of health and higher education, and navigate the changes posed by emerging technologies and innovations. We’re flexible, adaptable and we excel at the deep collaboration that will drive the success of AI, machine learning and large language models, which show so much promise in advancing teaching and learning and improving health and well-being.

The successful development of those technologies hinges on understanding the problems we need to solve, what we want to achieve and the values that define us. We need to integrate technology and AI into our learning and practice in a way that supports our humanity and enhances our well-being. It takes highly trained and focused interprofessional teams collaborating across disciplines — clinical, research, computer science, informatics and more — to ensure oversight and accountability for tech applications that are safe, equitable and just.

This issue of Helix offers insight into the innovative thinking of our many talented students, faculty, alumni and administrators who are helping to shape the future of health care and healthcare education.

Together, we’re creating a future in which roles will be less rigid and professional boundaries will be reframed. Health workforce shortages are speeding the shift beyond an era of specialization and siloed professions.

Together, we’re showing that interprofessional education and practice — one of our pioneering initiatives — and collaborative partnerships, another area in which we excel, are needed now more than ever. When you’re working as a team, it’s easier to spot gaps in care.

We’re all skilled in human health. We need to come together to talk about the patient as a person, what they need and how that relates to their wellness and healing. We need to continue that approach with our communities, especially those that bear hardships including the unequal burden of chronic disease.

Community-based learning initiatives like our Interprofessional Community Clinic help us develop a deeper understanding of the social determinants of health, the close connection between our health and our environment, the paramount importance of lifestyle, and how forces beyond our patients’ control harm their health and wellness.

Finally, our new Campus Master Plan offers a highly adaptable roadmap to a more sustainable future for healthcare education at RFU. It’s about sustaining our mission and sustaining ourselves. It’s about giving our faculty, staff and students the kinds of spaces and services they need to maintain their wellness as they immerse themselves in higher-level thinking while adapting to shifting realities in the world around them.

With your support, we can help our students face with confidence a future of increasing complexity. We can provide them with an environment that is supportive and inclusive. We can continue to help them learn the skills and knowledge base they need now, and also how to investigate, understand and apply what they will learn in the future.

Wishing you the best of health.