Student Perspectives of an Interdisciplinary Approach to Clinical Provision and Supervision

Abstract

We conducted a survey to investigate student perceptions of an interdisciplinary clinical practicum and to identify beneficial interdisciplinary supervisory practices. Seven speech-language pathology and audiology graduate students participated in an interdisciplinary clinical practicum supervised by 1 speech-language pathology faculty member and 1 audiology faculty member. During this experience, students collaborated with others outside of their department to plan and provide aural habilitation at a university speech and hearing clinic. Students’ responses to Likert-scale and open-ended questions indicated that the interdisciplinary practicum experience enhanced the students’ clinical knowledge and ability to work as a member of an interdisciplinary team. The results of the study provide support for increasing interdisciplinary practicum experiences within graduate clinician training, as well as conducting future research to identify best practices when providing cross-disciplinary supervision.