Interdisciplinary health education: a case study of fact and fancy

Meeting the health needs of patients and providing comphrehensive health care services require the integration and coordination of several professional health services. Traditional methods for training students in the health professions independently are being challenged by the need for future practitioners to understand and to utilize effectively the skills offered by the other disciplines. However, the movement of educational institutions toward interdisciplinary training programs entails the careful assessment of program design, content, and basic philosophy. Two and one-half years of experience with such a program at one academic health center are reviewed.