Interdisciplinary Preparation to Meet the Emotional and Behavioral Health Needs of Diverse Students

Abstract

Although interdisciplinary teaming within a multi-tiered system of support is valuable, barriers to collaboration exist among professionals because of competing standards, lack of understanding roles, and lack of common language. These challenges may relate to how pre-service training is arranged. Training is usually provided in separate programs with little overlap in courses and field experiences. Interprofessional education (IPE) is a potential means of addressing the siloed approach. The goal of this chapter is to describe an IPE preparation program designed to develop scholars to meet the emotional and behavioral health needs of diverse students. Participating scholars complete a plan of study that includes shared coursework and courses that are unique to their field, participate in a weekly professional seminar, and take part in an interdisciplinary practicum experience. The authors also offer recommendations for university programs seeking to create interdisciplinary opportunities for pre-service professionals.