title: Interprofessional education: the student perspective.
abstract: The Toronto Rehabilitation Institute (Toronto Rehab) is a current leader in the movement of interprofessional education (IPE) initiatives in Ontario, Canada. Nine students from seven different health care disciplines, including medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, pharmacy, physiotherapy, social work, and speech language pathology participated in the second IPE clinical placement in the winter of 2005 on Toronto Rehab's Stroke inpatient unit. In an effort to increase interprofessional collaboration, improve communication skills, foster respect and enhance knowledge of the different roles each discipline plays on the health care team, these students met together over a five week period and participated in interprofessional group sessions led by different health care professional leaders from the unit. This paper discusses the students' perspectives on this IPE experience and the corresponding benefits and challenges. All participants in the study recognized the importance of interprofessional teamwork in patient care and agreed that all health care education should include opportunities enabling them to develop the skills, behaviours and attitudes needed for interprofessional collaboration.
authors.affiliation: Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, and the University of Toronto, Department of Physical Therapy & Faculty of Nursing, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Melodie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lumague
authors.forename: Alisha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Morgan
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mak
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hanna
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kwong
authors.forename: Colette
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cameron
authors.forename: Dori
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zener
authors.forename: Lynne
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sinclair
mesh_terms: D004501:Education, Medical; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D009864:Ontario; D015397:Program Evaluation; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*