Interprofessional Education Programs Bring Together Clinical Trainees
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The importance of incorporating interprofessional education (IPE) and practice into curricula and clinical training has long been recognized by faculty in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences (SPHHS). During the 2024–2025 Office of Faculty Development mutual mentoring grant cycle, a team of faculty from SPHHS and the Elaine Marieb College of Nursing (EMCON) was awarded a grant to build awareness and administrative support for intentionally integrating evidence-based IPE activities into both coursework and clinical training for health profession students.
The team—led by Lisa Sommers (Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences [SLHS]) and including members Christy Maxwell (Nutrition), Thomas St. Laurent (Kinesiology), Sally Linowski (Health Promotion and Policy), Julia McDougal Ronconi (EMCON), and Leonora Thomas (EMCON)—attended a two-day IPE conference. They also held brainstorming sessions with their deans and fellow faculty to explore ways to develop and refine IPE offerings for both undergraduate and graduate students.
SPHHS IPE initiatives began strong in fall 2024, when SLHS faculty partnered with the Professional Translation and Interpreting program. Together, they connected SLP and AuD students with students in the online translation and interpreting program to practice diagnostic interviewing. In spring 2025, the collaboration expanded to include faculty and students from the UMass College of Education's School Psychology program and Northeastern University’s ASL Interpretation program. These groups conducted mock IEP meetings, with SLHS faculty Tomma Henckel, Jane Sackett, Dave Gooler, Megan Gross, Emily Bambacus, Michael Starr, Dana Hoover, and Tim DeLuca playing key roles in organizing and implementing the sessions.
In spring 2025, SLHS speech-language pathology (SLP) students teamed up with peers from the Physician Assistant, Occupational Therapy, and Social Work programs to explore the challenges of living with aphasia, particularly its mental health impacts. This IPE event was supported by faculty from programs that participate in the Pioneer Valley Interprofessional Education and Practice Collaborative (PV-IPEC), including SLHS faculty Jacquie Kurland and Lisa Sommers. Students from Springfield College, Western New England University, and Fairfield University learned about aphasia from SLP peers and from Deb Myerson, founder of Stroke Onward and a stroke survivor, along with her husband, Steve Zuckerman. Students also met in interprofessional groups to hear directly from stroke survivors with aphasia and their care partners. SLHS faculty members Tim DeLuca, Jane Sackett, Michael Starr, and Elizabeth Martin served as facilitators. The event, held annually through PV-IPEC, has received enthusiastic reviews—particularly for centering the lived experiences and voices of stroke survivors.
In March, audiology clinical instructor Emily Bambacus afforded students in the Doctor of Audiology (AuD) program an opportunity to collaborate with their peers from a neighboring institution. In total, a mix of approximately two dozen AuD and Western New England University Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OT) students met at UMass.
They explored factors beyond their fields to consider when developing more individualized solutions, like how hearing aid basics and treating patients with decreased fine motor skills connect. Feedback from participating students spoke to the effectiveness of the event.
“I loved that there was a big need for collaboration on how audiology students can better help clients manage their hearing aids if there are fine motor difficulties or symptoms of memory loss,” one audiology student commented.
“I really enjoyed working with the OT students,” another added. “Some OT students have never encountered hearing aids before, so it was a great opportunity to teach them basic maintenance and how they are worn. We had thoughtful conversations about patient struggles, and the students offered such creative and helpful ways to make our patients' lives easier.”
On April 25th, 80 students led by instructors Judi Labranche (Kinesiology), Christy Maxwell (Nutrition), and Elizabeth Martin and Lisa Sommers (SLHS) collaborated to create yet another innovative student activity focused on Parkinson’s disease (PD). IPE events allow students from different SPHHS departments and beyond the school’s walls to educate each other about professions in each concentration and in what ways they will be called on to support one another.
Participants prepped prior to the event, receiving content about PD in their classes. On the day, organizers placed the students in groups across their disciplines to learn the scope of each’s practice and their familiarity with PD. Their feedback afterwards painted a picture of the day.
“A highlight for me was understanding how individuals with Parkinson’s disease receive care from a ‘team’ of health professionals and realizing how crucial everyone's role in that team is towards their progress,” one student noted.
Hands-on demonstrations followed these discussions. Speech language pathology students educated their peers about swallowing disorders and how they relate to PD. They paired the lecture with a “thickened liquid” activity, which simulates what it’s like to drink the thickening agents people with PD use to overcome swallowing problems.
Nutrition students hosted a Bingo game about nutrition facts before kinesiology teams led exercise stations to demonstrate and discuss various physical exercises and interventions for the gross and fine motor challenges that people with PD experience.
One participant noted that they enjoyed “engaging in a variety of activities that different professionals would do with individuals with PD to better understand my role and its connections to theirs.”
A panel of three people with PD capped off the event. Tad Jackson, Bob Ryan, and Steve Lang-Gunn spoke openly and honestly about the various challenges and unique experiences they have in their lives as people diagnosed with PD. They also answered student questions.
“I thought the panel of people with Parkinson's was vital in making this experience concrete rather than theoretical,” commented a participant afterwards.
For much of the past decade, Sommers, a clinical associate professor in speech, language, and hearing sciences who serves as clinical director for the department’s Center for Language, Speech, and Hearing, has devoted her time introducing her students to IPE experiences like these. Her goal in organizing these events has always been to expand students’ awareness of the complexities of working with patients facing challenges such as Parkinson’s disease.
“I want the students to think outside the lab, classroom, and clinic, and really see what everyday life is like when you are living with PD,” Sommers said. “This will make these future clinicians so much more knowledgeable and compassionate and able to focus beyond just evidence-based techniques to see the whole person.”