Foundations of Interprofessional Practice: The Development of a Keystone Course for an Interprofessional Collaborative SLP, PT, and OT Curricular Sequence

The purpose of this paper is to describe one university’s experience in designing a foundational course that introduces the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) Core Competencies (IPEC, 2016) and applies those competencies to interprofessional education and interprofessional practice experiences specific to the accreditation needs of three related graduate health science programs in Speech-Language Pathology, Physical Therapy, and Occupational Therapy. Four years of student evaluation data demonstrate that the foundational course effectively meets course objectives from the student perspective and provides valued opportunities to get to know student colleagues, begin to focus on effective collaboration, and gain insights into professions other than their own.