Teaching Note—Asserting Social Work’s Role in Developing an Interprofessional Education Project

ABSTRACT

Interprofessional (IP) education is an essential component of today’s health care education. IP education has been recognized and supported for its potential to educate workforce-ready health care clinicians with the knowledge and skills, necessary to collaboratively deliver high-quality, client-centered care. While social work’s reflective, patient-centered, and holistic approach to care is invaluable in addressing healthcare challenges at all levels, social work’s lack of involvement in IP health care team practice is evident in the development of IP education curriculum with other health care disciplines. This article describes how one School of Social Work at a regional public university became part of a longitudinal IP education project in collaboration with a large R-1 research university, creating an IP opportunity for Master’s in Social Work (MSW) students. It also discusses the process taken for social work inclusion in the IP project, an experiential elective course designed to supplement the project, as well as Transformative Learning Theory, the conceptual framework used.

Acknowledgments

This project was supported in part by funds from the Division of Nursing, Bureaus of Health Professions, Health Resources and Services Administration, D09HP25920. July 1, 2013 - June 30, 2016. Principal investigator: Cynthia Fitzgerald. The information and content and conclusions are those of the authors and should not be construed as official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by the Division of Nursing, HRSA, Bureaus of Health Professions, HHS or the U.S. Government. The authors acknowledge and extend their gratitude to Barbara Richardson, PhD, RN; Brenda Bray, PharmD; Lisa J. Woodard, PharmD, MPH; Megan Wilson, PharmD, BCPS; Linda D. Ward, PhD, FNP, BC; Janet Purath, PhD, ANP, BC; Janet Beary, PhD, RDN, CHES; Tamara Odom-Maryon, PhD; Melody Rasmor, EdD, FNP-C, FNP-C; Kevin V. Stevens, MSN, RN, CHSE; Dawn DePriest, MSN for their contributions to this project.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rie Kobayashi

Rie Kobayashi, PhD, LMSW, is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work, Eastern Washington University. Cindy Fitzgerald, PhD, RN, is the Regional Director, Continued Professional Healthcare, Providence Health Care, Spokane, Washington.

Cindy Fitzgerald

Rie Kobayashi, PhD, LMSW, is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work, Eastern Washington University. Cindy Fitzgerald, PhD, RN, is the Regional Director, Continued Professional Healthcare, Providence Health Care, Spokane, Washington.