On Thursday, April 15th Longwood University’s College of Education and Human Services held its first Interprofessional Education (IPE) workshop which allowed undergraduate and graduate students to interact with other professionals and to think outside of the box when partnering with other disciplines.
Dr. Shannon Salley, Dr. Karla Collins, and Dr. Katherine Matthews and others organized the event to build awareness of different disciplines and what those disciplines do, break down barriers set by stereotypical thoughts about various professions, and develop skills for working as teams to provide services to students/clients.
Dean Lissa Power-deFur said, “Longwood's first Interprofessional Education event was a great success in exposing future professionals to diverse disciplines and growing their skills in collaboration. These skills will enhance these students’ ability to serve their students and clients in the future.”
Dr. Shannon Salley evaluated the event by saying, “I feel like the event went quite well. We had approximately 100 students from 7 different programs who participated, which I think demonstrates the focus that Longwood programs have on the importance of collaboration.”
Many students requested additional IPE opportunities after the event was held because they found that there was great value gained when working with other professionals.
“I enjoyed learning about other professionals we’ll be working with as Speech Language Pathologists and how our scope of practice overlaps with theirs. I also thought it was interesting to hear their perspectives on issues we typically deal with, such as communication, behavior management, and caregiver education. I think it was extremely helpful to have a faculty member leading the group because they introduced the topics/questions in new ways I hadn’t thought of. This event helped me view inter-professional practice in a new light and it pushed me to think outside of my SLP-minded box!” Hannah Millirons in the Communication Sciences and Disorders program.
Javion Peterson, “I enjoyed the transfer of ideas and perspectives from the variety of professionals. I left the event feeling enlightened and confident in my abilities as a professional.”
Plans are underway for another Interprofessional Education workshop in the fall.