The Presidential Scholars Program at the Medical University of South Carolina: an extracurricular approach to interprofessional education.

The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) developed a Presidential Scholars Program (PSP) in order to foster interprofessional collaboration among students from the different health professions on campus. Now in its seventh year, the program provides approximately 40 selected students each year from six different colleges with a two-semester interprofessional educational experience. Students work in small interprofessional teams on a project designed to address a broad-based health care issue; they also participate in other structured educational sessions throughout the year. As one means for assessing student impressions of the interprofessional collaborative experience, a survey was administered prior to and immediately after the experience. Additionally, a sample of non-scholar MUSC students was randomly selected for completion of the survey as a control group. Results indicate that PSP students have a significantly greater understanding of each other and deeper appreciation of the value of interprofessional collaboration at the end of the year. The Presidential Scholars Program at MUSC provides a unique and innovative opportunity for students to work with individuals within other health care disciplines, reduces stereotypes of the various professions and teaches important team skills. Future research would involve alumni follow-up in order to further evaluate the long-term impact of the program.