Ben Parrish completed his undergraduate degree at Harding and is wrapping up his first year in the MS program. He offered these words on the value of interprofessional education at Harding University:
“My time at Harding has been one string of amazing opportunities right after the other. I could talk all day about the amazing things that I’ve been able to be part of, but some of the main things that stick out to me are all the interprofessional events that we have here. The events can range from having 8 or more professions involved to just 2 or 3. The events are never the same. There is always a different topic or theme that we get together to discuss. Sometimes that event will just be to watch a movie and after the movie, we split into small groups with at least one of every profession present and discuss the different ways our profession would be involved in that scenario.
Every time there is an interprofessional event that we attend, I come out learning so much more than I could imagine, and that’s not just about my profession. Sometimes I learn more about what the other professions do than how my profession can be involved in the specific scenarios that are given at the events. It’s amazing to get to the events and listen to everyone discuss what their profession can do. I know I have attended a few of these events when the rest of my group had no idea what speech-language pathologists had within their scope of practice. It was a great experience to have them listen and learn from you, but also listen and learn from them.
It has truly been an amazing opportunity to be a part of these interprofessional events. I am feeling more prepared every day because I am able to connect and learn from so many different people from so many different professions. This is definitely an experience of a lifetime.”
