Facilitating interprofessional identity development in healthcare students through dedicated interprofessional placements

ABSTRACT

There is a growing body of research evidencing the benefits of dedicated interprofessional placements in preparing healthcare students for interprofessional practice. However, little is known about if and how students develop their interprofessional identity during interprofessional placements. This study addresses this knowledge gap by exploring final-year students’ interprofessional identity development during dedicated interprofessional placement(s). Thirty-eight students from five health professions were interviewed and data analyzed inductively to identify themes. Participants also drew images representing their perceptions of interprofessional identity and its relationship to professional identity as part of the data collection. The themes showed participants progressed from conceptualizing interprofessional identity as a requirement of the placement at the start of the placement, toward internalizing an interprofessional identity by the end of their placement. Context influences interprofessional identity salience. A commitment from healthcare professionals to model interprofessional practice, combined with explicitly facilitating interprofessional identity development, is recommended to facilitate continued interprofessional identity development in different contexts post placement.

KEYWORDS:

• Interprofessional identity
• interprofessional placements
• healthcare
• students

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Supplementary material

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Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ruyi Tong

Ruyi Tong is a PhD student in the School of Population Health at Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia. Ruyi research focuses on understanding interprofessional identity development in healthcare students, and the impact of an interprofessional identity on subsequent practice as professionals. Ruyi also works as a senior speech pathologist with Therapy Focus, a disability provider in Perth, as she completes her PhD.

Margo Brewer

Associate Professor Margo Brewer Discipline Lead, Speech Pathology, Curtin University. Margo was the leader of interprofessional education in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia from 2008 until 2019. Margo has been awarded several teaching excellence awards, has led local and national grants totally over $5 million, and published over 25 peer reviewed journal papers, 4 book chapters and several interprofessional education guides. Margo’s research has been presented on over 50 occasions at national and international conferences including international plenary addresses. In late 2019, Margo moved back to her original field of speech pathology where she continues her involvement in interprofessional education.

Helen Flavell

Helen Flavell is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Allied Health at Curtin University.  She has researched a broad range of higher education topics including interprofessional education, academic leadership, imposter syndrome, developing academic capacity for e-learning, fieldwork, the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), work-integrated-learning, outbound mobility and decolonising curricula.

Lynne D. Roberts

Lynne Roberts is an Associate Professor in the Curtin School of Population Health. Lynne conducts research on teaching and learning in higher education, and has previously published research on undergraduate students’ experiences with interprofessional education.