A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

In the community:

There are interdisciplinary teams of pre-professionals from education, social work, public administration, nursing, dentistry, and sociology who coordinate services at a number of school and health and human services sites.

In the degree program:

Built into the training of these pre-professionals, a curriculum (eight different courses are offered) that stresses integration among professionals. For example, a course was offered in the fall semester titled, "Seminar in Integrated Services for Families and Children." Students participating in the course (which was co-taught by faculty from social work, education, public administration, and nursing) were graduate and undergraduate students from nursing, social work, psychology, education, and public administration.

How is the community served?

The program seeks to provide family-centered, integrated services (education, health, and human services) to children and families in South Central Los Angeles.

How do schools participate?

Schools serve as operational sites for pre-professional teams.

How long has the interprofessional development program been operating?

The pilot of the program was Fall of 1993.

What clinical experiences are offered?

Each operational site has one full team of interns (from various disciplines), the tasks performed vary depending upon the site, the team, and the intern. Pre-professionals work with school staff to aid their servicing of students, they work directly with students to provide and/or coordinate services, and they work as researchers to determine what is happening in schools regarding integrated services and what needs to be done.

How is the program evaluated?

A formative evaluation plan was begun last spring, however, it became clear to the faculty that in order to do an effective, rich evaluation, the evaluation team must be interdisciplinary. The program director is in the process of determining which professions should be represented on the evaluation team.

Contact Person(s):

Stephanie Taylor-Dinwiddie
Executive Director
U.S.C.
Waite Phillips Hall of Education
Suite 303E
Los Angeles, CA 90089-0031
(213) 740-3279 (Phone)
(213) 746-8142 (Fax)

[The Interprofessional Commission of Ohio (ICO): Columbus, Ohio]

[Early Childhood Training Team: University of Vermont: Burlington, Vermont]