
Abstract In the Philadelphia area, the Bridging the Gaps Community Health Internship Program (BTG) is a city-wide community health service learning program primarily open to graduate-level students of health professions, including medicine, public health, dental, pharmacy, social work, creative arts therapies, occupational and physical therapy, and law. Interns in the seven-week, paid, summer program work in interprofessional teams four days per week at a community site and spend one day each week in presentations, workshops, and small group discussions. Six creative arts therapists who participated as graduate students in this non-curricular internship during the summers of 2007 and 2008 were interviewed in 2011 to examine their perceptions of the impact of BTG upon their professional identity as new creative arts therapists. The study suggests that the internship cultivated in these participants a foundation for interdisciplinary clinical work that is socially and culturally aware. Shared themes included awareness of social determinants of health, healthcare as a privilege, and differing perspectives in healthcare environments, as well as increased empathy for marginalized and vulnerable populations. The authors recommend interprofessional learning opportunities that foster the development of clinicians who acknowledge their clients’ sociocultural differences and systemic interactions.
| selected citations These citations are derived from selected sources. This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | 4 | |
| popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network. | Average | |
| influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | Average | |
| impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network. | Average |
