In healthcare, interprofessional education has been a hot topic of late. In fact, most of my research on interprofessional collaboration lead back to the multitude of interprofessional education studies that exist in the literature. During my defense of my doctorate thesis/ this project, it was also something that arose in the question portion of my presentation.

When I was a student at Thomas Jefferson University learning to be an OT, I was part of the beginning years of our interprofessional education program. However, it focused on partnerships with the medical, nursing, pharmacy, physical therapy, and family counseling students. Our only exposure to the world of home design was through a few lectures in our environmental modifications course. Current students at Jefferson do get the chance to work with industrial design students on assistive technology projects. Students at Philadelphia University complete projects with the architectural design students. These opportunities are invaluable. Exposure to other professions and a true working knowledge of their skill sets at such an early point in their careers will only enhance the collaborative process later on.

It leads me to wonder…. What opportunities were provided to you as students (or professionals) to work with people of other professions on projects as part of an interprofessional education type program? What do you know of students doing in your own professions? And finally, what did you learn of others during your time in school?