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. 2018 Jun 4;18(1):122.
doi: 10.1186/s12909-018-1245-8.

Conditions for interprofessional education for students in primary healthcare: a qualitative study

Carrie Tran  1 , Päivi Kaila  2 , Helena Salminen  3
Affiliations

Conditions for interprofessional education for students in primary healthcare: a qualitative study

Carrie Tran et al. BMC Med Educ. .

Abstract

Background: Primary healthcare in Sweden and worldwide has a diverse structure with many kinds of healthcare units involved. This is a challenge for collaboration between different professions in primary healthcare, as the different healthcare professions often work in silos. Interprofessional education (IPE) in the context of primary healthcare is less studied than IPE at hospitals and most of the studies in primary healthcare have focused on collaboration between general practitioners and nurses. The aim of this study was to describe how healthcare students perceived conditions for IPE in primary healthcare.

Methods: Qualitative group interviews were used and a total of 26 students, recruited on a voluntary basis participated in four group interviews with students mixed from study programmes in nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and medicine. Students from the study programme in medicine were in their second to eleventh semesters of 11 semesters in total, whilst students from the occupational therapist, physiotherapist and nursing programmes were in their fourth to sixth of six semesters in total.

Results: Our findings indicated one theme: Students perceived a need for support and awareness of IPE from both study programmes and clinical placements. Five categories were found to belong to the theme. Students' tunnel-vision focus on their own profession may have affected their ability to collaborate with students from other professions. The nature of the patients' healthcare problems decided if they were perceived as suitable for IPE. Clinical supervisors' support for and attitude towards IPE were important. The hierarchy between different professions was perceived as a hindrance for seeking help from the other professions. The students asked for more collaboration between different study programmes, in order to gain knowledge about the roles and responsibilities of the other professions.

Conclusions: In conclusion, students in this study considered it essential for different study programmes and clinical placements to be more aware of the opportunities for and importance of IPE. The study identified conditions that were required for IPE in primary healthcare that may be helpful for healthcare teachers and clinical supervisors to better understand how students perceive IPE in primary healthcare, thus facilitating the planning of IPE.

Keywords: Content analysis; Healthcare students; Interprofessional education; Primary healthcare; Qualitative study.

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Conflict of interest statement

Authors’ information

Carrie Tran (CT), District nurse, Stockholm County Council, PhD student, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Division of Family Medicine and Primary Care, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden.

Päivi Kaila (PK), RN, PhD, Senior Lecturer, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Division of Nursing, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden.

Helena Salminen (HS), MD, PhD, Associate Professor and Senior Lecturer, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Division of Family Medicine and Primary Care, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Ethical approval was obtained from the Regional Ethical Review Board, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden (Dnr: 2012/1011-31/5). All participants gave their written informed consent.

Consent for publication

The participants in the study provided written informed consent for publication; non-identifiable participant comments are reported in the manuscript.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Students’ perceptions of IPE in primary healthcare: theme, categories and subcategories
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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