I think my last placement at the Janeway Children's Hospital gave me plenty of opportunities to experience interprofessional activity. 

During my six weeks, I would participate in Cerebral Palsy Clinic twice a week which included an OT, SLP, pediatrician, orthopedic surgeon, neurologist, recreational therapist, social work and a nurse as part of the team. Each member would do individual assessments and would then have a conference to discuss the patient findings and make team decisions. This gave me the opportunity to learn a little more about each member's scope of practice and get some insight into how a team approach can be very beneficial for the overall health of the patient- each member's assessment shed a little more light into the patient's case. In addition to CP clinic, I also attended day patient conferences with a similar set up, spina bifida clinic, neuromuscular clinic, and neuromotor clinic. I also was permitted to sit in with one family during their initial visit to a lifestyles clinic. This was a neat experience because I was able to see each professional's assessment and experience the clinic much as a patient would. This again, allowed me to observe how each professional would get a different piece of the patient's story.

Other interprofessioal experiences included 3 school visits: 2 of which involved communication between the physiotherapist and the individual's teacher/ care worker and one accompanied by an OT and her student. During this visit with the OT’s, we worked on proper lifting technique and adaptive seating of a patient. I was pleased I got to go along on the school visits because this was not something I knew physiotherapists typically did and the visit with the OT's provided a great example of interprofessional teamwork for the benefit of the patient.

I was also asked to attend a presentation on Paralympics put on by a recreational therapist and athletes. This was interesting for me because it provided some insight on a RT's role in patient care and the possible collaboration opportunities that exist between us and them. 

In addition, I participated in a few joint treatment sessions with an occupational therapist, which was neat because our sessions often complimented one another. This impacted me by stressing the importance of communicating with other health professionals about what treatment you are doing with your patients. With OT in particular, are methods of treatments might be similar and it is important that we are working together and no just repeating each other's sessions.

Overall, I think my neuro pediatric placement, gave me plenty of opportunities to experience different interprofessional activity in a unique population.

By: Katie Myatt (Class of 2014)