A Practice-Based Interprofessional Emergent Writing Intervention: Impacts on Graduate Students and Preschoolers

Despite the importance of collaboration in schools, few studies have examined interprofessional education (IPE) interventions for graduate speech-language pathology (SLP) students designed to prepare them with the skills necessary to effectively work on school-based teams. The current pilot study implemented a five-week practice-based IPE intervention with six SLP graduate students and three occupational therapy (OT) graduate students. Three SLP students were randomly assigned to the ‘unpaired’ condition and delivered emergent writing activities independently to a small group of preschoolers (n = 10). The other three SLPs were each randomly assigned an OT student to collaborate with in a ‘paired’ condition and conducted the same activities together with their assigned small groups of preschoolers (n = 11). Graduate students’ emergent writing knowledge and interprofessional competencies were supported throughout the study by facilitated discussions and structured debrief sessions with their clinical educators using the DEAL model of critical reflection. Results indicated that SLP students from both conditions demonstrated positive gains in emergent writing knowledge, but the paired SLP students had a greater gain in self-reported interprofessional competencies. Preschoolers in both conditions demonstrated improvement on emergent writing tasks. Implications of practice-based IPE interventions for both graduate students and children are discussed

Interprofessional Education for Pre-Service School-Based Professionals: Faculty and Student Collaboration

Interprofessional collaboration is necessary for school-based professionals who provide services for students with disabilities. Most pre-service training, however, takes place in separate programs and does not afford students opportunities to learn effective collaborative techniques. This study examined the effects of a one-day interprofessional learning experience for pre-service school-based professionals. The goals were twofold: 1) increase students’ understanding of the core competencies for interprofessional collaborative practice (Interprofessional Education Collaborative, 2016) and 2) provide an opportunity for students to participate in interprofessional collaboration within a simulated school-based context. A mixed method design examined changes in students’ knowledge of the IPEC competencies. Students completed a modified version of the Attitudes Toward Health Care Teams Scale (ATHCT) and reflections of learning. Participants demonstrated significant increases in value of team, team efficiency, and shared leadership. Qualitative analysis of students’ responses to open-ended survey questions about the day revealed three major themes and two minor themes, which indicated increased understanding of three of the IPEC competencies (i.e., roles/responsibilities, interprofessional communication, and teams and teamwork). The findings suggest that pre-service training programs could use case-based learning to assist students in developing interprofessional collaboration skills