Interprofessional identity in clinicians: A scoping review

ABSTRACT

Interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP) has been recognized as invaluable in delivering safe, high-quality patient care with finite resources. However, despite a decade of advances in interprofessional (IP) research, policy, and competency frameworks, IPCP does not always occur in practice. One reason may be the influence of a clinician’s identity in an IP context. The purpose of this scoping review was to understand the nature of IP identity in healthcare clinicians. The PRISMA framework was used to support a comprehensive search strategy and screening of 1746 articles. Inclusion criteria included original research, theses, and reviews, a primary focus on IP identity or professional identity (PI) in an IP team, and a focus on health professionals, including students transitioning to practice. Ninety-five papers met the eligibility criteria, though once charted, just four of the 95 papers focused on IP identity in clinicians. Three further papers examined shared team identity, 25 papers referred to, but did not focus on IP identity, and the remaining 63 papers explored PI in an IP team. While limited studies on clinician IP identity restrict conclusive findings, patterns were identified to direct further research on the nature of IP identity in clinicians. These include values and beliefs, individual and personal factors, profession and professional experience, education, socialization, context, leadership, and the process of IP identity development. While identity is undeniably central to being a clinician, the values, beliefs, attributes, and experiences that contribute to clinician IP identity, how clinician IP identity develops, and factors that influence IP identity remain unclear. The results of this review highlight the value of further investigation of the nature of IP identity, the interplay between PI and IP identity, and identity in an IP context.

KEYWORDS:

• Interprofessional identity
• scoping review
• interprofessional collaborative practice

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/13561820.2022.2086222

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported that there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Angela Wood

Angela Wood MHSc BOccThy (Hons) is a PhD candidate in the School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Queensland, and leads allied health workforce development at the Princess Alexandra Hospital, including the interprofessional program of work across Metro South Hospital & Health Service.

Jodie Copley

Jodie Copley PhD B Occ Thy (Hons) is an Associate Professor in Occupational Therapy in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at The University of Queensland, and Director of the Masters of Occupational Therapy Studies Program. She is a Fellow of the Occupational Therapy Australia Research Academy, an affiliate of the UQ Poche Centre for Indigenous Health and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Anne Hill

Anne Hill PhD BSpThy is an Associate Professor in Speech Pathology in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at The University of Queensland and an affiliate of the UQ Poche Centre for Indigenous Health.

Neil Cottrell

Neil Cottrell, PhD, MSc, BSc Pharmacy (Hons) is an Associate Professor in Pharmacy in the School of Pharmacy and the Director of Interprofessional Education, Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences, The University of Queensland.