Interprofessional Education in Undergraduate & Graduate Communication Science Disorders Programs: A National Exploratory Investigation

Abstract

Interprofessional education (IPE) encourages health professionals to learn interactively with each other, on the premise that collaborative learning will have direct positive effects on patient/client health. While IPE has been a staple in the medical and nursing disciplines for quite some time, it is just starting to make an appearance in Communication Science Disorder (CSD) programs. The purpose of this study was to investigate IPE within undergraduate and graduate CSD programs. Specifically (a) how widespread it is, (b) status in programs incorporating IPE, (c) potential future status in programs not incorporating IPE, (d) demographics of IPE in programs that do incorporate it, (e) what outcomes programs are measuring, (f) how outcomes are being measured, (g) barriers programs and faculty have experienced, and (h) critical enablers to success in their IPE initiatives. This study collected data from two national questionnaires. The first questionnaire was completed by 184 undergraduate and graduate CSD Chairs or Program Directors. The second questionnaire was completed by 1,130 undergraduate and graduate CSD faculty. Analysis using descriptive statistics indicated that while IPE is taking place in undergraduate and graduate CSD programs across the country, it is in the emerging stages for most programs. Furthermore, there are some CSD programs that are not planning on incorporating IPE because it is either not a priority for them at this time, or they suffer from a lack of resources with which to implement IPE. Newly identified student backgrounds incorporated in both lecture and clinical based IPE, clinical IPE teams, curricular content and topics, strategies and IPE activities are discussed. Barriers faced by programs and faculty as well as critical enablers to the success of IPE initiatives are also addressed. The findings from this study suggest that IPE is in the emerging stages for CSD programs across the country. While some CSD programs are incorporating IPE, many are not. Implications and recommendations for CSD programs and future research are discussed.