Emerging themes: an exploratory research project of an interprofessional education module for medical, dental and...

This paper will detail themes emerging from the first stage analysis of a project that was commissioned by the Department of Health. In evaluating the effectiveness of interprofessional teaching and learning opportunities for undergraduate medical, dental and nursing students, the project will also reveal wider institutional problems and opportunities in shared curriculum development. The research focuses on an existing Community Module within the medical and dental curriculum, which has incorporated BSc nursing students. Based on pre-module focus groups, semistructured interviews and an extract from a reflective project diary, the paper will describe the emerging themes of personal interest to the researchers concerning student perceptions and expectations of their shared learning. This early data suggests that in their first term at college, the students reveal inconsistencies in their stereotypical attitudes towards the 'status' of their intended professions. They also demonstrate attitudes that challenge traditional views. The students also offer similar discrepancies in their views on the value of interprofessional learning. It would be premature to draw any firm conclusions from this preliminary analysis of selected data. However, the analysis provides early evidence of the key cultural, professional and institutional issues central to the planning and implementation of interprofessional curricula.