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Abstract Athletic trainers (ATs) are healthcare providers who work in collaboration with physicians, nurses, physical therapists and others to provide care to physically active individuals. Founded in 1950, the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) represents certified ATs and other individuals who support the athletic training profession. The Board of Certification (BOC) has the only accredited certification program for ATs in USA.

Improvement in the provision of health care is essential in a complex, diverse and changing system. Studies are beginning to indicate that interprofessional (IP) collaboration can be a means to help address this issue. Institutions that have programs in health professions develop Interprofessional Education (IPE) programs as a way to introduce and nurture the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for IP collaboration.

The purpose of this paper is to describe a pilot study that will further develop and refine the capstone course for an 11-credit hour Interprofessional Curriculum. The course is being designed to allow students an opportunity to apply interprofessional concepts within the context of a practicum experience. Students were recruited from a variety of Health Science programs. Eleven volunteered to participate representing nursing, physical therapy, and occupational therapy. A low-income, urban residence was chosen for the project site.

Saint Louis University's Interprofessional Education Program (SLU-IPE) started with interprofessional courses throughout the curricula of the health professional programs of the Edward and Margaret Doisy College of Health Sciences and the School of Nursing. The goal of SLU-IPE is to prepare graduates for interprofessional patient/client-centered practice, effective and efficient delivery of health care services, and advocacy for improvement of health and health services.

A historical review was conducted to examine the advances made, nationally and internationally, in interdisciplinary health professional education since the mid-1960s. One hundred and nineteen articles were reviewed and divided by decade into the following subheadings: models, courses, communication/group process issues, and international perspectives. Twenty-seven articles, categorized as models, defined the conceptual field, described curriculum and program development, or provided a framework for evaluation.

Appropriate collaboration and communication among health professionals is viewed as increasingly important in meeting the challenges of today's health care system. Student socialization to interdisciplinary practice is thought to be facilitated through interdisciplinary academic and clinical learning experiences during the educational program. The purpose of this article is to identify factors commonly cited as facilitating and inhibiting interdisciplinary education, to provide insight for the development of successful interdisciplinary education projects.

In January 2010, Western University of Health Sciences launched the first phase of its Interprofessional Education (IPE) program. Our mission is to produce humanistic healthcare professionals who practice collaborative patient-centered care. The university wide comprehensive IPE program model includes didactic, experiential and clinical care phases. The first phase of the IPE program, didactic, rolled out during the 2009-2010 academic year. While the data from the first year is still being evaluated, initial indicators reveal the launching of the first year of the program was a success.

The past decade witnessed momentum toward redesigning the U.S. health care system with the intent to improve quality of care. To achieve and sustain this change, health professions education must likewise reform to prepare future practitioners to optimize their ability to participate in the new paradigm of health care delivery.

In response to the call for tools to measure collaboration in interprofessional settings, an Ambulatory Team Observed Structured Clinical Evaluation (ATOSCE) was developed to measure collaboration/teamwork behaviors and skills in a realistic simulation for graduate students in the healthcare professions. Participants rated the ATOSCE a realistic and valuable learning experience.

Health professional education programs increasingly incorporate interprofessional education (IPE) activities into curricula in response to evolving health policy and accreditation requirements in an effort to highlight the benefits of, and prepare students for, interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP). As such, there is a need for statistically valid instruments designed to assess baseline student perceptions regarding IPE and IPCP.