My Interdisciplinary Self - Guest Post by Haley Miranda (Dec '18)

Haley Miranda, MSW MPH Student (Dec '18)

While I had a vague idea of what interdisciplinary collaboration was before beginning the Dual Master of Public Health and Master of Social Work program here at UGA, I had very little understanding of what such collaboration could look like on a practical level. On a broad scale, I have come to understand interdisciplinary collaboration as any situation where more than one perspective is used to develop understanding or solutions to circumstances or challenges. When applying this broad definition to a single person, a dual professional could be considered one person who simultaneously carries the contrasting, yet overlapping, perspectives of two different disciplines or professions.

With interdisciplinary work comes the dire importance of perspective taking, which is “the intellectual capacity to view a problem or subject…from alternative viewpoints, including disciplinary ones, in order to develop a more comprehensive understanding of it” (Repko et al, 2014). Through the development of the skill of perspective taking, dual professionals are able to reconcile differences among the professions in which they are trained as well as among professionals with which they collaborate.

For example, public health social workers are trained to “blend the preventive aspect of public health and the problem solving orientation of social work," developing a more holistic view of issues at hand. In addition to this, direct practice skills can be effectively utilized to aid in inter-group communication, where public health social workers can serve as a translator between various disciplines or professions.

This kind of perspective taking is especially important when considering the many “issues that continue to plague our society and call for a more comprehensive, integrated approach” (Jackson, 2015). The deeper I delve into my studies, the more I observe the complexity of the challenges our world faces. However, I find hope in the idea that strong, interdisciplinary collaboration and an increased capacity for perspective taking “enables us to adopt a broader perspective, improves efficiency when integrating information, and facilitates assembling new sets of potential solutions to complex problem[s]” (Repko, 2014).

Increased creativity and sustainable solutions are two of the most promising benefits of interdisciplinary collaboration, especially among social work and public health professionals. I experienced this first hand at an interprofessional education event hosted at Brenau University. The table I was placed at included an occupational therapy student, two physical therapy students, a nursing student, and a physical therapy faculty member. We were given a case study and asked to brainstorm solutions and develop a treatment plan for our client. I am still surprised at the varying perspectives and priorities of each discipline, and recognize the immense number of issues I would have failed to consider had I not been working with an interdisciplinary team. Complexities that I am not trained to address were brought up by each team member, and we were able to develop a more comprehensive plan of action because of our differing, yet important, perspectives. This event was a lesson in perspective taking for me, as I witnessed its power to “reduce stereotyping of those who are different than [I am], improve decision quality by enabling [me] to deal with multiple inputs, and increase creativity” (Repko, 2014).

“From the very beginning of social work in the United States, public health and social work have walked hand in hand, working to understand the issues faced by populations at risk, engaging the community on solutions, and then pushing for societal changes to ensure that the successes will be longstanding,” and I am honored to continue this intentionally sustainable work (Jackson, 2015). My hope is that I will continue to develop a capacity for perspective taking within myself and teams I engage with. I have come to learn that interdisciplinary collaboration is happening everywhere, all I have to do is choose to take part with humility and watch as my view begins to widen.

- Haley Miranda, December 2018

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Resources

Jackson, K. (2015). Public health social work: Now more than ever. Social Work Today Magazine, (15)6, 12.

Repko, A.F., Szostak, R., & Buchberger, M.P. (2014). The interdisciplinary studies “Cognitive toolkit.” In Introduction to interdisciplinary studies (pp.49-61). Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.