Interprofessional Experience for Future Education Professionals: School Psychology and Speech-Language Pathology Students

Educational training programs are tasked with addressing potential barriers to interprofessional practice through experiences that promote interprofessional collaborations. The present study of interprofessional experiences (IPE) had both research and pedagogical purposes. The research purpose was to describe graduate student self-perceptions related to interprofessional teaming/collaboration before and after an IPE involving two educational training programs, school psychology and speech-language pathology. The pedagogical purpose was to convey a detailed description of a case-based IPE offered as a course assignment and offer implementation suggestions. Participants in this course-based IPE were 109 students in the school psychology and speech-language pathology graduate programs at a medium-sized midwestern university over a four-year period. Students in both programs engaged in the IPE as part of a graded class assignment involving case studies. Pre- and post-IPE surveys were used to determine changes in students’ perceptions of their own profession and training, others’ professions, and collaboration and teaming. Results indicated that the perception of students from both programs significantly improved following the IPE. Improved perceptions of collaboration, teaming, and one another’s professions were sustained over four years of implementation. Implications for research, practice, and training are discussed.