Students perception of their own and each other’s profession

Abstract: Interprofessional practice and teamwork are becoming more essential in health care. Increased collaboration gives the opportunity to enable patient centred health care with high quality of outcomes. If health professional students learn together they will be better prepared for interprofessional collaboration and teamwork, such initiative can be interprofessional education (IPE) at a clinical education ward (CEW). The aim of the study is to explore how students from medicine, nursing, physiotherapy and occupational therapy programs, perceive their own and each others` profession prior to a clinical placement at a CEW. This was a qualitative study using focus groups. 18 students participate in the study. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis and a thematic network was developed. A plethora of professional perceptions emerged as the highest order category. This was derived from four organizing themes; professional expectations, relationship to the patient, leadership and relationship across professions and from the respective basic themes: different areas of professional doing and explanation of professional images, being close, being distanced, being a coordinator and being a leader, collaboration and unclear boundaries. This perceptions are needed to discuss and reflect during the CEW and allowing the student, together rather than silos, to develop professional identities as well as the knowledge, skills and attitudes.