‘Now We Can Work Together’: MCPHS Students Join Citywide Interprofessional Event

Students from healthcare-related programs across Greater Boston came together to connect, share their experiences, learn about each other’s professions, and inform their own careers.

Students from nine Boston-area colleges, including Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS), gathered at the MGH Institute of Health Professions for an interprofessional event exploring how collaboration among healthcare and related professions improves outcomes for patients and providers alike.

Diti Ketankumar Shah, Anandita Suresh Priya, and Ruchi Vinodchandra Patel, all in the final year of the Master of Public Health program at MCPHS, attended together.

“I wanted to learn more about the healthcare fields in the U.S.,” said Shah, who has a dentistry degree from India. “This seemed like the perfect chance to meet people from other professions, learn about what they’re doing, and understand how we can work together.”

Rebecca Butler, a speech language pathology student at the MGH Institute of Health Professions, created the Building Relationships for Interprofessional Dialogue, Growth, and Engagement (BRIDGE) program in collaboration with the MGH Institute Center for Interprofessional Education and Practice. The program’s premier event, held in the fall, included 30 students representing nine institutions and 10 healthcare professions across Greater Boston, including acupuncture, athletic training, healthcare law, medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, pharmacy, physical therapy, public health, and speech language pathology.

In addition to MCPHS, students from Boston College, Boston University, Emerson College, Harvard, Lasell University, Northeastern, and Tufts attended the event.

“While most healthcare programs in the area have interprofessional education within their school, I couldn’t find anything intercollegiate,” Butler explained. “I’ve found that we, as students, often learn best in moments of peer-to-peer connection. I wanted to find a way to harness the power of those moments.”

Butler also created BRIDGE to push students out of their comfort zone—to meet new people and get candid about their professions. When Shah, Priya, and Patel arrived at the event, small groups were already forming at several tables. Seats were assigned, and they realized they had to lean into the experience.

“I really liked that we didn’t have the option to sit with our friends,” Priya said. “I have researched supplementary proteins, and there was a physical therapy student at my table. We talked about my research and about how people misuse these supplements or don’t seek expert guidance before taking them. If I knew him sooner, his perspective could’ve helped my research.”

After meeting their tablemates, the participants played trivia to learn about each other’s professions.

“The other students didn’t know what public health professionals do, mostly because the field is so broad,” Shah said. “It stood out to me that if other healthcare professionals don’t know what we do, how would the public? It made me realize how important it is to have these conversations.”

Then, Butler posed several open-ended questions about healthcare and each profession for the small groups to discuss.

“The discussions provided us with so much knowledge about the other professions’ points of view,” Patel said. “Now, we know about the challenges the other professions are facing, and we can work together, collaboratively, to overcome those difficulties.”

Butler said the participants exceeded her expectations. “It was exciting to see the students bring all their expertise and have meaningful conversations, especially about how we can better support patients.”

The connections participants formed at the event have endured. Priya said they shared contact information and connected online, creating an indefinite resource as they continue their degrees and begin their careers.

“As a public health specialist, I need to know what other health professionals do so I can use their expertise to improve community health,” Priya said. “Events like this are very much needed, and I know this network will help me in the future, and vice versa.”

When Butler started planning BRIDGE, she didn’t expect the volume of interest or the positive response she received.

“BRIDGE illustrated just how similar the professions are because being in service of others is at the root of what we all do,” she said. “It is valuable to bring together people with a shared vision so we can work together toward our goals.”

In addition to the 30 participants, the first BRIDGE event had a 40-person waitlist. Butler is planning another event this spring, with a larger capacity and a slightly different agenda. Since the event, the waitlist has doubled.

Students interested in attending the next BRIDGE event on Friday, April 10, 2026 can fill out this form to receive updates.