Health Service Psychology Students' Readiness for Interprofessional Collaboratio

Researchers assessing outcomes of interprofessional education initiatives have evaluated students from various health disciplines, including medicine, nursing, dentistry, and physiotherapy students (Harward, Tresolini, & Davis, 2006; Parsell & Bligh, 1999). However, to date, no studies exist evaluating students from professional psychology training programs in their ability to collaborate with other health professionals. The American Psychological Association has recognized the intersection in the provision of health services amongst professional psychology specialties, including counseling and clinical psychology, designating the term health service psychologist to capture the role psychologists play in health care (HSPEC, 2013). In fact, researchers have recognized a notable overlap between clinical and counseling psychologists, specifically within medical settings, suggesting the individual uniqueness of each specialty is somewhat decreasing (HSPEC, 2013; Neimeyer, Taylor, Wear, & Buyukgoze-Kavas, 2011). In this study, attitudes towards interprofessional education and attitudes towards interprofessional collaborative team-based care were compared between doctor of nursing practice students (DNP), counseling psychology, and clinical psychology doctoral students. Separate univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated partial support for this study's hypotheses and showed no difference between groups in attitudes towards interprofessional education. DNP students had a significantly more positive attitude towards team-based care compared to counseling and clinical psychology students, who showed no difference. Further, notable overlap between the counseling and clinical psychology training experiences were observed in their respective clinical experiences and future career interests. These findings have considerable implications for the training of professional psychology students in interprofessional team-based care.