Interprofessional education (IPE) involves students from different professions being brought together to learn about each other's profession. Several models of IPE exist, and central to the debate around which of these models is the most appropriate is the question of the stage of training in which to implement these programmes. Currently, however, there is no consensus on this question. Debate so far has revolved around the strength of professional identities, or lack thereof, amongst pre‐qualifying students and how this may influence interprofessional learning. The potential role of professional identity in IPE seems to be unresolved. The present article adds to this debate by investigating the level of professional identity when students commence their professional studies; the differences in the level of professional identity between students from a range of professions; and the factors which may affect the initial levels of professional identification. Data were collected by questionnaire from the first‐year cohort of Health and Social Care (H&SC) students embarking on IPE as an embedded part of an undergraduate pre‐qualifying programme. A sample of 1254 students was achieved. Professional identity was measured using an adaptation of a previously described scale. Our findings suggest that a degree of professional identity is evident before students begin their training. Differences in strength of initial professional identity were observed across professions, with physiotherapy students displaying the highest levels of professional identification. To test for associations between professional identity and a number of independent variables, an ordinary least squares (OLS) regression model was estimated. The variables that were found to be significant predictors of baseline professional identity were: gender; profession; previous work experience in H&SC environments; understanding of team working; knowledge of profession; and cognitive flexibility. Some explanations for these findings are presented and the implications are discussed.

There is increasing interest in the theoretical underpinning of interprofessional education (IPE) and writers in this field are drawing on a wide range of disciplines for theories that have utility in IPE. While this has undoubtedly enriched the research literature, for the educational practitioner, whose aim is to develop and deliver an IPE curriculum that has sound theoretical underpinnings, this plethora of theories has become a confusing, and un-navigable quagmire. This article aims to provide a compass for those educational practitioners by presenting a framework that summarizes key learning theories used in IPE and the relationship between them. The study reviews key contemporary learning theories from the wider field of education used in IPE and the explicit applications of these theories in the IPE literature to either curriculum design or programme evaluation. Through presenting a broad overview and summary framework, the study clarifies the way in which learning theories can aid IPE curriculum development and evaluation. It also highlights areas where future theoretical development in the IPE field is required.

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In this Guide, we support the need for theory in the practice of interprofessional education and highlight a range of theories that can be applied to interprofessional education. We specifically discuss the application of theories that support the social dimensions of interprofessional learning and teaching, choosing by way of illustration the theory of social capital, adult learning theory and a sociological perspective of interprofessional education. We introduce some of the key ideas behind each theory and then apply these to a case study about the development and delivery of interprofessional education for pre-registration healthcare sciences students. We suggest a model that assists with the management of the numerous theories potentially available to the interprofessional educator. In this model, context is central and a range of dimensions are presented for the reader to decide which, when, why and how to use a theory. We also present some practical guidelines of how theories may be translated into tangible curriculum opportunities. Using social capital theory, we show how theory can be used to defend and present the benefits of learning in an interprofessional group. We also show how this theory can guide thinking as to how interprofessional learning networks can best be constructed to achieve these benefits. Using adult learning theories, we explore the rationale and importance of problem solving, facilitation and scaffolding in the design of interprofessional curricula. Finally, from a sociological perspective, using Bernstein's concepts of regions and terrains, we explore the concepts of socialisation as a means of understanding the resistance to interprofessional education sometimes experienced by curriculum developers. We advocate for new, parallel ways of viewing professional knowledge and the development of an interprofessional knowledge terrain that is understood and is contributed to by all practitioners and, importantly, is centred on the needs of the patient or client. Through practical application of theory, we anticipate that our readers will be able to reflect and inform their current habitual practices and develop new and innovative ways of perceiving and developing their interprofessional education practice.

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This paper highlights the research challenges that face researchers wishing to build the evidence base around interprofessional education (IPE). It concentrates specifically on the short-term impact of IPE on a student population. The Contact Hypothesis is a particularly useful theoretical framework to address these challenges as well as guide the development of IPE interventions. A brief description of this theory and the closely-related theories of social identity and categorization is made in order to support and clarify this theoretical position. The application of the Contact Hypothesis as it has already been made in the IPE field is also described. The paper then addresses how the Contact Hypothesis can be further utilized to address IPE research needs. Through consideration of critique of this theory outside of this field, the development of this framework beyond its early applications to the IPE field are addressed in terms of future direction, the caveats and models of IPE that now require empirical testing.

This paper describes the curriculum model developed for an ambitious interprofessional education programme for health and social care professions implemented in two universities in the south of England (the New Generation Project). An outline of how the New Generation Project has interpreted the meaning of interprofessional learning is presented first. This is followed by an outline of the structure of the programme, describing both learning in common and interprofessional learning components. The pedagogies underpinning this curriculum initiative are presented and an integrated pedagogical model, facilitated collaborative interprofessional learning, is proposed. The New Generation Project curriculum is then discussed as an extension of an established typology of interprofessional education.

This article examines intergroup processes amongst neophyte health and social care students who are about to embark on an interprofessional education (IPE) programme. Positive relationships between students of the different professions must be optimized to promote student learning of each other, a central objective of these courses. It has been proposed that to reduce conflict and promote harmonious intergroup relations during this IPE activity, students from each professional group should feel their own group (the ingroup) to be distinctive from other professional groups (the outgroup) on some key characteristics (intergroup differentiation). Good relations are further promoted if the characteristics they see as distinctive to their identities are also recognized as distinctive by other professional groups (mutual intergroup differentiation). The current article considers the incidence of these two factors in neophyte health and social care students and identifies sources of potential intergroup conflict. The findings of the study suggest that all groups of neophyte health and social care students perceived their ingroup as distinct from other professional groups, with the exception of audiology students. The implications of this finding to the relationships between students participating in IPE are discussed. Furthermore, in certain groups there was evidence that students of these groups were seen by others as they saw themselves. This was particularly the case for doctors and social workers and implies that these professions will suffer least from a threat to their group distinctiveness. However, there were instances where characteristics, seen as distinctive by the professional group itself, were not recognized by other groups. For example, physiotherapy students believe that being a team player, and decision making and practical skills were all distinctive characteristics of their profession. However, these features were not recognized as distinctive by other professional groups. The implications of matches/mismatches in how students see themselves, and how they may be viewed by others, are discussed in terms of their impact on student learning experiences and relationships during IPE.