Impact of professional cultures on students' perceptions of interprofessionalism: some Norwegian experiences

Professionals bring their own personal and professional culture, competence, and interaction styles to the work setting. This study explores how undergraduate students (n = 619) at five different professional qualification programs from two Norwegian university colleges perceived interprofession education and collaboration (interprofessionalism). The student groups were drawn from nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy, biomedical laboratory science, and radiography. Another central aim was to investigate if professional cultures influence students' perceptions of interprofessionalism. The students completed a questionnaire about different aspects of interprofessionalism. A principal component analysis revealed three factors that provide some insight into how students perceive interprofessionalism. These factors were: 1) need for interprofessional collaboration, 2) value of interprofessional education, and 3) openness to interprofessionalism. The results also showed that the nursing student group valued interprofessional education more highly than the other student groups and was more open to interprofessionalism. On the other hand, the OT students were most aware of the need for interprofessional collaboration.