Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy departments hold annual Baby Lab

Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy departments hold annual Baby Lab

On Aug. 23, 2024, the Physical Therapy (PT) and Occupational Therapy (OT) departments at A.T. Still University-Arizona School of Health Sciences (ATSU-ASHS)hosted their annual baby lab on the Mesa, Arizona, campus.

This interprofessional lab offered an experiential learning opportunity for the students, who spent the prior three weeks learning about gross and fine motor development and the role of reflexes in development.

Monica Queen, PT, DPT, assistant professor, ATSU-ASHS PT, explained, "There are so many opportunities for learning with this lab. Aside from the hands-on experience, the students are provided with an introduction to what interprofessional collaboration is.

"We have PT and OT students paired into groups so that when they are observing a child, each cohort is able to describe to the other discipline what they see and offer a different perspective."

In total, 22 babies aged three weeks to 24 months were observed playing with toys, rolling, crawling, walking, and interacting with other children and caregivers during the lab.

"I believe interprofessional education is so important as it shows the students how to begin communicating and collaborating with other healthcare professionals, which they will undoubtedly encounter in their professional careers," Dr. Queen added.