I had a great IPHE experience during my placement at the IWK. I was a part of a group of students from a variety of health professions (including PT, OT, SLP, Speech & Communication Disorders Assistant, Recreation Therapy, Visual Sciences, & Nursing) who examined a real-life case from the hospital. Our case was rehab based, and we focused many of our discussions on the interdisciplinary needs for the patient who was getting prepared for discharge. We were lucky enough to attend rounds for the patient, which included the patient’s family, and I had the opportunity to attend a couple of his PT sessions so that I could bring some more specific PT information to the table. In the end, we created a document that the patient’s parent expressed interest in having, which details many things we learned about the patient throughout our time at the IWK. We thought it would be great information for anyone working with him to know, as it outlines many of his likes and dislikes, how he communicates and mobilizes, his feeding schedule and many of his strengths.

As a student, I felt that this IPHE experience helped to empower me and give me more confidence in discussing my role as a PT with other health professionals, and it gave me the opportunity to learn a lot about the roles of the other professions. I really enjoyed the focus on discharge planning and the integration back into the community, realizing that it really does take an interdisciplinary approach (including the patient and their family) to figure out what is best for a specific patient. I also have a better understanding of how different health professionals can work together on not only big decisions like discharge planning, but also on a day to day basis to provide the best care possible. For example, it was amazing to learn about the SLP’s work with this particular patient and how crucial it was for the PT to learn the best way to communicate with him to maximize treatment. 

In the future I think this opportunity will help me take advantage of what I can learn from other health professionals. It has gotten me much more excited about the potential of interdisciplinary care, as now I’ve experienced it firsthand and can see what a difference it makes to have the expertise of so many different areas. I think it will enhance what I can bring to the table as a PT as part of a team and will help me with communication skills when working with other professionals.

Thanks for hearing my thoughts! The IWK really does a great job with these experiences and I was really pleased with how it went. Let me know if you’d like any more information.

By: Camille Cramm (Class of 2014)