Interdisciplinary Family Health
Since Fall semester of 2003, physical therapy students at the University of Florida have had the opportunity to begin practicing their skills in health promotion and wellness through a unique program. The Interdisciplinary Family Health (IFH) program incorporates students from the Colleges of Medicine, Pharmacy, Dentistry, and Public Health & Health Professions. The IFH program provides an educational experience in which students participate in an organized service activity that meets identified community family volunteer needs and reflects on the learning activity in such a way as to provide further understanding of course content, and provide health profession students with a broader appreciation of family health within a community context, and offers an enhanced sense of civic responsibility. The mission of the program at the University of Florida is to promote and facilitate interdisciplinary student education through service learning. This experience is designed to give students the opportunity to explore their professional role in assisting individuals in our community with identifying and addressing health and wellness goals. Students begin practicing professional skills of interviewing, observation and goal setting with their assigned family in the first semester of their respective programs. During the second semester, students continue to collaborate with team members from other professions to assist the families in our community with achieving their health and wellness goals.
Our participation in the IFH program has afforded our students additional opportunities including Community Health Scholarships and funding for identified community health projects in Florida. In the summer of 2004, Gabrielle Shumrak participated in developing and implementing an Osteoporosis screening in the Pensacola area. In the summer of 2005, Aneesha Jennings was selected to explore and develop resources to address the issue of low health literacy at ACORN, a rural health clinic in our community.
