Cross collaboration - HEST departments partner to create learning opportunities for students

Collaborations between university departments aren’t often seen between two different academic departments, let alone seven. A program in the College of HEST is proving that not only can it happen, it can also create new learning opportunities for students across several disciplines.

The college’s Interprofessional Education Program was created in 2018 by a faculty committee in what was then known as the College of Health and Social Services. The committee planned and implemented a yearly project in the fall where students from social work, nursing and public health learned about and collaborated on a different topic.

Since the formation of the College of HEST in 2021, the project has expanded to include the departments of kinesiology, communication orders and special education. A total of 17 faculty help facilitate an interprofessional activity in Canvas for about 130 students who work in teams to tackle a topic as part of a project, which can include posters, podcasts, panel discussions, presentations or policy proposals.

“We hope to ensure that other units are represented in the future, and we are exploring the possibility of transitioning this year activity to a one-credit course that could be collaboratively taught and taken by students across the college,” says Stacy Gherardi, associate professor in the School of Social Work.

Gherardi says the program has proven to be beneficial for students to learn how to work with others in separate but related fields. Students take on a broad topic, such as mental health, and work with each other on how best to address those topics using their varied academic backgrounds.

School of Nursing faculty Linda Summers and Conni DiBlieck, along with the planning committee, were instrumental in getting the program off the ground, Gherardi said.

"Interprofessional training among our allied health and education programs in HEST is crucial for fostering collaboration, enhancing patient-centered care and promoting the holistic development of our students,” says Phillip Post, associate dean of academics for the College of HEST. “The collective efforts of these units will positively impact the students we serve and better equip them to address health and educational disparities thorough out our state.”