Reflections on Practice and Recent Research to Enable Future Practitioners to Learn About Working Collaboratively Across Disciplines to Better Help the Community

Abstract

This article uses reflective practice and the author’s recent research to explain why there is a need for such an approach to break down barriers between professionals to improve social justice and health outcomes for the community they will serve. This article is exploratory only and contains reflections on the author’s research (including findings) and own experience in clinical teaching and some opportunities that could be explored to deepen student learning, understanding of the nature of problems, client contexts and holistic problem solving, especially skills in collaboration, interpersonal skills including working with other professions, problem solving, contexts that cause and exacerbate problems and interviewing skills. It suggests the idea for joint student learning across professional fields to enhance such skills and break down professional stereotypes and barriers as well as the development of an interdisciplinary student clinic as an important way of building better and more responsive future practitioners in health, law and allied health disciplines.