Interprofessional Collaboration Within an Anesthesiology Department: Implications for the Education and Training of Pediatric Psychologists

Interprofessional collaboration is a key activity of the pediatric psychologist. There are a multitude of benefits of interprofessional collaboration, such as the opportunity to provide interdisciplinary care to children and families, to contribute to initiatives that have policy impact across professions, and to integrate the knowledge and skills of multiple professions within a research team. In this commentary, several challenges and strategies for maximizing interprofessional collaboration are described based on experiences working within a department of anesthesiology. Specifically, challenges in understanding professional roles, relevance of the other profession, and leadership in an interprofessional context are highlighted. Education and training in interprofessional collaboration is critically needed to prepare the future pediatric psychologist to assume collaborative interprofessional roles.