Developing professional identity is an important process that all students of medicine undergo as they begin their transformation from layperson to practitioner. Physician assistant (PA) students undergo this transformation, however little is known about their experience, especially within the didactic phase of their education. This qualitative study employed an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to further understand how PA students in the didactic phase of their education explained and made sense of their developing professional identities as medical practitioners. Three major findings emerged from the analysis of the data including 1) Relationship to Self, 2) Relationship to Others, and 3) Relationship to Process. The findings provided insight into the experience of PA students in the phenomenon of professional identity development and further illuminated the complex transformation that takes place within the didactic phase of their education. The study provided a foundation on which to consider future recommendations for practice and areas for further research.
Interprofessional education (IPE) occurs when students from two or more professions associated with health or social care engage in learning with, from, and about each other. IPE addresses four essential competencies that not only seek to prepare students for interprofessional practice, but also strive to improve the overall quality of healthcare delivery for patients and their families. This article describes the development of an IPE program that fully integrates music therapy students into program-wide and program-to-program IPE events. We identify core components of IPE, describe the development of program-wide and program-to-program events involving undergraduate and graduate music therapy students, and discuss the benefits and challenges encountered during program development. In doing so, we advocate for IPE as a core component of music therapy education and training.
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