Learning and identity development during interprofessional hospital placements: A qualitative exploration using rich pictures

Increasing numbers of healthcare students are trained within interprofessional hospital placements, where they learn to be part of the landscape of healthcare practice. Explicitly facilitating (inter)professional identity development has been recommended as a goal of these placements. We aimed to explore students’ experiences during their placement, and its relation to their learning and identity development.
In this multicenter qualitative study, nine medical students, six midwifery students, and six nursing students drew rich pictures of one satisfying and one challenging experience during their interprofessional placement, capturing complex, nonverbal elements of these experiences. We used semi-structured interviews to deepen understanding of students’ experiences and their developing identities, adopting an inductive constructivist thematic analysis.
During their interprofessional encounters, a range of emotions supported or challenged students’ learning and identity development. These emotions played a pivotal role throughout the three themes we identified: (1) Understanding and appreciating differences; (2) Navigating identity tensions; and (3) Gaining confidence in patient-centered learning and collaboration.
During interprofessional placements, most students engage in learning about each other’s responsibilities and values, enhancing knowledgeability. Tutors should be aware of students’ emotions during interprofessional encounters, and stimulate reflection on them, as emotions can foster or hamper students’ knowledgeability and identity development.