Professionalism in Physician Assistant, Physical Therapist, Occupational Therapist, Clinical Psychology, and Biomedical Sciences Students.

UNLABELLED: Interprofessional collaboration for healthcare requires a better understanding of the commonalities and differences in student perceptions of professionalism. METHODS: 217 students in five programs (PA 71, PT 46, OT 29, CP 12, and BMS 59) completed a 22-item survey (response rate 79.5%). A Likert scale grading from 1 (hardly ever) to 5 (always) was used to assess professional attitudes and behaviors. RESULTS: A mixed-model MANOVA, supplemented with post-hoc analyses, showed significant group by time interactions for 5 items. Sensitivity to differences and diversity of other people increased for BMS students, but decreased for PT students. Timeliness increased for BMS students, but did not change for PA students. Seeking out new learning experiences increased for BMS students, but did not change for PA or PT students. Taking a group leadership role increased for BMS students, decreased for PT students, while PA and OT students showed no change. Volunteering time to serve others decreased for OT and PA students, while BMS and BM students showed no change. CONCLUSION: It is plausible that these findings emerge from differences in program curricula and specific training objectives. The findings provide initial insight to educators on ways that attitudes and behaviors pertaining to professionalism sometimes vary among students in different health science programs.

Results of a School-Based Evidence-Based Practice Initiative.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of a 17-mo initiative designed to increase practitioners' knowledge and skills related to evidence-based practice (EBP) in the schools. METHOD: We evaluated participants' EBP knowledge and skills at pretest and posttest using the Adapted Fresno Test (AFT) and collected their perceptions through a survey. RESULTS: Participants demonstrated significant improvements in their EBP knowledge and skills after participating in this initiative as measured by changes in AFT scores. A significant difference was noted in scores between pretest (µ=43.9, SD=32.67) and posttest (µ=74.66, SD=33.99), t(28)=-5.645, p<.001. CONCLUSION: This initiative was influential in increasing school-based practitioners' EBP knowledge and skills.

Intergenerational service-learning across levels and disciplines:"one size (does not) fit all".

Service-learning is increasingly becoming an avenue used in a variety of disciplines to provide students with real-life experience regarding aging and older adults. Developing and implementing meaningful service-learning experiences, however, requires consideration both of the discipline-specific content to be addressed, as well as the varied backgrounds (educational and personal) and levels (freshman to graduate) of the students who will be participating. Intergenerational service-learning is not a one-size-fits-all endeavor. Drawing on the experiences of intergenerational service-learning programs at three institutions (representing three disciplines-Gerontology, Nursing, and Occupational Therapy), this paper focuses on the discipline-specific challenges of building a quality intergenerational service-learning program, as well as the associated challenges of developing appropriate intergenerational service-learning experiences for a range of student levels with varied backgrounds.