Interdisciplinary collaborative training for school-based health professionals

Changes in the nation's health and education systems have mandated that disciplines work together in a coordinated and collaborative manner to meet the complex health and educational needs of children and adolescents. This need for interdisciplinary collaborative training becomes even more of an issue for professionals providing services in school-based health centers. Although several foundation projects have focused on training health care professionals and other service disciplines, there are relatively few reports of interdisciplinary training of school health professionals. Two projects--the California State University Interprofessional Collaboration Training Project and the Catholic University of America School Nurse Practitioner Program--are reviewed and suggestions are presented for expanding interdisciplinary training of school-based health professionals in academic institutions.