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To examine undergraduate psychology and dental students' perceptions of their self-perceived ability, value and comfort in working with others in an interprofessional context. Students participated in a new interprofessional learning initiative incorporating motivational interviewing to encourage health behaviour change. Pre- and post-interprofessional learning survey data from 49 students and written reflections of 115 students were analysed. Students demonstrated significant improvement in all quantitative measures, including overall interprofessional socialisation and values as well as perceived ability, value and comfort in working with others. Three themes relating to perceptions of ability, value and comfort with interprofessional collaboration were identified: Scope of Practice, Collaboration as a Valuable Approach and Healthy Scepticism. While the findings show that even small-scale interprofessional learning programmes can significantly increase students' perceptions in these domains, student feedback can further enhance interprofessional learning. Within interprofessional learning, the scope of practice for health professions, including the students' own discipline, must be clear, knowledge about facilitators and barriers to successful interprofessional collaboration and ways to address these issues must be included, and efforts should be made to show students how professions that may initially seem quite disparate, can and do, collaborate to support positive patient outcomes. Key Points What is already known about this topic: (1) Successful interprofessional collaboration offers benefits for clients, health professionals and health systems. (2) Interprofessional learning aims to produce a collaborative practice-ready psychology workforce responsive to a range of client presentations and workplace contexts. (3) Psychologists are often employed in multidisciplinary teams, yet in Australia it has not been commonplace for psychologists-in-training to be exposed to interprofessional learning. What this topic adds: (1) Small-scale interprofessional learning initiatives may be associated with improvements in students' overall interprofessional socialisation and values, and perceived ability, value and comfort in working with individuals from other health professions. (2) For interprofessional learning to be successful, students must be knowledgeable about the scope of practice for a range of health professions, including their own. (3) Students benefit from knowledge about facilitators and barriers to successful interprofessional collaboration and guidance on how to address these to maximise the effectiveness of collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people suffer health inequities, such as high levels of psychological distress and multiple life stressors. These have been shaped by colonisation, racism, discrimination, and government policies and practices. Method Eight Australian psychologists were interviewed with the aim of identifying the professional skills and personal competencies that enable effective service delivery for this client group, and especially those aged 12-25 (i.e., 'youth'). Results Thematic analysis identified that personal and clinical credibility, relationship centrism, contextual understanding, a holistic approach, and flexibility are important to good practice. Not all of these are currently part of standard psychology training, but many are covered by guidelines developed by the Australian Psychological Society. Conclusions Results from this study indicate that ongoing adjustments to university curricula, professional competency requirements for practitioner registration, and continuing professional development will all contribute to best practice. Moreover, for Australian psychologists, the consolidation of cultural competency into a useful framework for professional development is paramount. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To measure psychological and physical health of psychology students during their Honours year of study, in the context of this being perceived as a high stake, "make‐or‐break" degree program in Australia. Method: Psychology honours students from 9 universities (N = 179) completed an online survey that included measures of depression, anxiety and stress, physical activity, drug and alcohol use, self‐rated health status, future study intentions and desired final grade for the degree. Data were collected in the first semester of the academic year. Results: The sample was overall, high on perceived physical health, with around 74.85% being at least minimally active. Around one quarter were overweight or obese. The majority were non‐smokers, and did not regularly misuse drugs or alcohol, although binge drinking was reported by the majority. The majority planned to enter further study to qualify as a registered psychologist. Depression, anxiety, and stress were elevated in the sample, when compared with other comparative reference groups. Those with higher levels of perceived physical health and those aiming for a higher desired final grade were less likely to show elevated scores on psychological distress measures. Conclusions: This study is consistent with published and unpublished data showing that psychological distress levels in this cohort are high. These findings show that this is evident across universities, and that distress is apparent early in the academic year. Educators and the profession have a duty of care and a responsibility to reflect upon the student experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]