Call of interprofessional duty: an ethnographically informed discussion on preparing students to be digitally resilient

ABSTRACT

What role does social media play for interprofessional education in a pandemic? This is the first pandemic to occur in a world filled with social media, where digital communication is ubiquitous and a high percentage of those affected are digitally literate. This paper situated within a United Kingdom (UK) context explores this new phenomenon, discussing the ways in which digital gift giving toward health and social care professionals has developed on a variety of social media platforms. This discussion proposes a theoretical understanding of digital gift giving and raises the importance of digital resilience for interprofessional learning and working. Reflections are made on the expected and imagined reciprocity of digital gift giving and the talismanic nature of employing symbols digitally to ward off COVID-19. This paper employs an ethnographic lens to unpack the issue of digital gift giving and recommends preparing students for the onslaught of digital gifts they may be exposed to upon entering the workplace. Academics are called on as the mediators of these recommendations, and suggestions are made as to how students can be best prepared for a digitally saturated interprofessional practice.

KEYWORDS:

• Digital gift giving
• interprofessional education
• ethnography
• Covid-19
• social media
• medical anthropology

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Joshua M. Bluteau

Joshua M Bluteau is a social & digital anthropologist and Lecturer at Coventry University. He formerly held the post of lecturer in the department of social anthropology at the University of Manchester and completed his PhD in 2018 at the University of St Andrews. Prior to this he undertook extensive research in the field of online IPE whilst working as a research assistant at Coventry University.  His more recent research focusses on the digital anthropology of social media platforms such as Instagram and the anthropology of clothing and adornment incorporating analyses of tailored menswear and much sought after sartorial objects. He is currently completing a monograph based on his fieldwork with bespoke tailors in London and their Instagram followers.

Patricia A. Bluteau

Patricia A Bluteau is an associate head of school in the school of nursing, midwifery and health at Coventry University. She has worked as a mental health nurse and has led the strategic development of interprofessional education at Coventry University since 2002. She is currently interested in the online interprofessional education and has published widely in this field. She is a member of the CAIPE executive and board.