Interprofessional identity development within a brief shadowing experience: An exploratory case study

Area of Science:

• Health Professions Education
• Interprofessional Practice
• Social Sciences

Background:

• The Deans' Interprofessional Honors Colloquium (DIHC) is an honors-level course designed for students from eleven academic programs.
• The course explores collaborative interprofessional practice through seminars, group learning, and shadowing experiences.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine how a brief interprofessional shadowing experience influences interprofessional identity development.
• To analyze student reflections using the interprofessional socialization framework.

Main Methods:

• Thematic and content analyses were performed on 401 Interprofessional Shadowing Reflections from ten semesters.
• The interprofessional socialization framework was used to track students' progress in developing a dual professional identity.

Main Results:

• Nearly all reflections indicated interprofessional role learning (second stage of socialization).
• Many students progressed towards dual identity development (third stage).
• Key themes included emergent role learning, role differentiation, and appreciation for other professions.

Conclusions:

• The interprofessional shadowing experience and written reflections are valuable for DIHC.
• The experience facilitates the correction of misconceptions and improves understanding of other professions' roles.
• Students demonstrated an increased desire to work interprofessionally, indicating early dual identity formation.