Health care partnerships: a literature review of interdisciplinary education.

Interdisciplinary education is an excellent teaching model for nursing and other health care professions students. When one considers that nurses, physicians, and other health care professionals must work together in the same environment, it seems feasible that learning together through allocated learning activities as an interdisciplinary group might enhance educational outcomes. According to the literature, interdisciplinary education fosters collaboration and teamwork among the health care team. In addition, anecdotal comments from nursing students indicate that they feel unprepared to communicate with other health care disciplines. Although there is an abundance of articles related to interdisciplinary education, few studies of student outcomes have been conducted. This article provides an overview of interdisciplinary education studies with nursing and other health professions students. Copyright 2012, SLACK Incorporated.