Virtual Interprofessional Forum a Success

On Nov. 5, students and faculty from the School of Social Work participated in the annual fall forum held by the Office of Interprofessional Education (IPE); this year it was successfully held online. An impressive total of 887 students and 116 faculty participated in the daylong event, with small group sessions where students worked across disciplines on a case study.

The featured speaker was Erie County Health Commissioner Gale Burstein, who gave prerecorded remarks. Schools and programs represented included athletic training, counseling psychology, dental medicine, dietetics, management, medicine, nursing, nurse practitioner, occupational therapy, pharmacy, physical therapy, public health and social work.

Cassidy Malough, an MBA/MSW student, was one of the enthusiastic attendees; she agreed that the event was both successful and helpful: “In the midst of a pandemic, the organizers did a good job. My facilitator was personable and ensured that everyone had a positive experience—while there were minor technical difficulties, they didn’t take away from the overall success of the event. It would have been nice to have a brief session where everyone discussed the main points of the case before breaking out into smaller groups. I did miss the in-person elements of actually seeing—and networking with—other students who were participating. Through the IPE day, I gained insight into how other disciplines view and prioritize client care; hearing how other disciplines might approach the case opened my mind to options.”