This spring the PT and OT Departments are pleased to announce a new elective course
"The Interdisciplinary Team--Improving the Care of Our Elders." It will be listed as OT 700/ PT 700 Elder Care on IQ Web.

Who should be interested in this elective?
This 1.5 unit elective, open to DPT and MOT students, will be run in conjunction with UC Berkeley, UCSF, and other local colleges/universities. Students in the course will represent a variety of health care disciplines including PT, OT, public health, social work, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, optometry, and others. The course will be taught by faculty with the same variety of backgrounds and from different campuses. Students with an interest in knowing more about how interdisciplinary teams function or are interested in working more with geriatric patients/clients should consider how this course may benefit their overall education.

What's the purpose of this elective?
The need and benefit of interdisciplinary healthcare teams is vital to integrated geriatric care. This course will help the student understand the work style and contributions of a variety of healthcare team members (physician, nurse, pharmacist, chaplain, therapists, etc.) to the geriatric team. Overviews of the roles of interdisciplinary teams in geriatric healthcare will lead to exposure to the variety of disciplines in interdisciplinary geriatric team practice, including field observations of geriatric interdisciplinary teams in practice. A framework for understanding the dynamics of interdisciplinary team practice will be provided so students will have a working background for how to participate productively as a member of a geriatric interdisciplinary team.

Where & when will the this elective be held?
Spring 2008. Classes will be held at the UC Berkeley campus from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm on Wednesdays from Feb 6 to Apr 30 (no class Mar 26).

What type of assignments outside of class are required?
This course will have some assignments scheduled outside of class time. Coursework will involve completing observations of other healthcare disciplines (2 shadowing sessions of approximately 90 minutes each) and attending 2 interdisciplinary team meetings. Instructors for the course will have available sites and times for students to sign up during the first two class sessions.

Still have questions?
To learn more about this exciting new elective, read the syllabus [1]and then contact SMC faculty helping to teach this course: Kate Hayner, OT Chairperson at khayner@samuelmerritt.edu [2] or Sharon Gorman, PT Assistant Professor at sgorman@samuelmerritt.edu [3].