High and low functioning team-based pre-licensure interprofessional learning: an observational evaluation

Area of Science:

• Health Professions Education
• Interprofessional Collaboration
• Psychological Safety

Background:

• Interprofessional education (IPE) is common in health professional training, aiming to foster collaborative teamwork.
• Existing research often relies on short-term, self-reported changes, potentially limiting understanding of true collaborative capabilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore how students behave in groups during interprofessional team-based clinical placements using overt ethnographic observation.
• To identify characteristics differentiating higher and lower functioning student teams in IPE settings.

Main Methods:

• Overt ethnographic observation of interprofessional student teams across three sites (720 hours total).
• Two independent observers conducted observations.
• Thematic analysis of observational data to categorize team functioning.

Main Results:

• Student teams were categorized as higher or lower functioning.
• Higher functioning teams used humor, emphasized shared client goals, and exhibited higher psychological safety.
• Lower functioning teams were more formal, lacked humor, and showed less interaction.

Conclusions:

• Higher functioning teams demonstrated enhanced interprofessional collaboration and psychological safety.
• Psychological safety, mutual trust, and confidence were evident in higher functioning teams.
• Explicit training and assessment of psychological safety in IPE are recommended.