Cross-Disciplinary Synergy 101: Uniting Expertise for Success

By Tim Miller, Dawson College

At a Glance

Discipline

  • Interdisciplinary
  • Health science

Instructional Level

  • College & CEGEP

Tasks in Workflow

Social Plane(s)

  • Group
  • Individual
  • Whole Class

Type of Tasks

  • Collecting & seeking information
  • Discussing

Technical Details

Useful Technologies

  • PowerPoint

Class size

  • Small (20-49)
  • Medium (50-99)

Time

  • Single class period (< 90 mins)

Instructional Purpose

  • Preparation & knowledge activation
  • Application & knowledge building

Overview

This is the first part of the activity, please visit this page to view the second part

The aim of this activity is to have students work with students from other disciplines to learn about other professions’ role. This will allow students to understand similarities and differences betwen professions, to appreciate each professions’ role, and to better communicate with other disciplines when they are working in the field.

In groups, students will tour different professions’ labs to experience a day in the life of each profession. They will also fill out a collaborative document to learn about the expertise of each profession and when another professions’ expertise is needed in patient care.

This activity takes place in-class during the first semester. Since this activity takes place in the first semester, this will be the first time students participate in interdisciplinary activities.

Instructional Objectives

Students will be able to:

  • Identify some of the roles of the other professions when dealing with a patient
  • Identify types of labs and equipment that is used in profession
  • Identify some of the types of tests, procedures, and interventions that are completed by profession that are similar and different to own profession
  • Identify the common overlaps and differences between the roles of each discipline Identify key terms in professions and how they differ from own profession
  • Identify key terms in professions and how they differ from own profession

Workflow & Materials

Workflow

Activity Workflow

View on CourseFlow
Document

Student Resources - Pre-Homework Questions

Tim Miller

logo saltise
Document Collection

Teacher Resources

Tim Miller

Contributor's Notes

Benefits
Challenges
Tips
Benefits
  • Communicate, learn and work together with students from different health disciplines.
  • Introduction to the IPE (Interprofessional Education) program which consists of several activities, including work-related activities, spread over every semester.
  • Addresses transversal competencies of CEGEP programs as they apply to the health disciplines.
Challenges
  • Large numbers of students from multiple programs can pose logistical challenges with regards to space. Programs need to coordinate and collaborate to adapt schedules and room bookings to accommodate the activity. Smaller CEGEPS with fewer programs will have less of a challenge. However, any college can start with a smaller group (e.g. 2-3 professions) for a first attempt.
  • Each discipline need to have the time and space to host 2 IPE groups: one that tours the lab facilities, while the other completes the in-class portion of the activity.
Tips
  • In organizing the IPE groups, don’t have students attending their discipline’s lab (i.e. Don’t have a diagnostic imaging student tour the diagnostic imaging lab.) You want the students to be able to see another discipline’s lab setting instead of touring their own.
  • Tours are given by faculty or a lab technician.

Applied Strategies

Flipped Classroom

Preparation for the classroom

Reflective Writing

Formal preparatory reflection

Related Activities

Interdisciplinary Health science

Role Reveal 201: Exploring Interdisciplinary Collaboration

In teams, students from each discipline complete a patient interview then contrast their approaches.