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Interprofessional education (IPE) is embedded in many health professional training programs, often with a focus on collaborative teamwork. Most studies into whether IPE delivers the desired collaborative teamwork capabilities has tended to rely on short term, self-assessed changes in learners' attitudes, knowledge and skills. This study adopted overt ethnographic observation to understand how a convenience sample of students behave in groups during interprofessional team-based clinical placements. Interprofessional student teams were observed by two independent observers on eight occasions (a total of 720 hours) across three sites. Thematic analysis of the observational data indicates that student teams fell into two categories: higher and lower functioning. Higher functioning teams were observed using humor to build rapport, reduce tension and express humility, and evidenced a greater emphasis on shared client goals. In contrast, lower functioning teams were more formal, with no evidence of humor and less interaction. The higher functioning teams, therefore, not only demonstrated greater interprofessional collaboration they also appeared to have higher levels of psychological safety. Participants in the higher functioning teams also demonstrated mutual trust and confidence and took more risks, often speaking up to provide suggestions, share knowledge and skills, and seek or offer feedback. The results suggest that further explicit training in, and assessment of, psychological safety in IPE needs to be undertaken. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The majority of studies exploring the impact of interprofessional education (IPE) for pre-licensure health professionals have focused on IPE experiences in the classroom, online or through simulation. Research into IPE in clinical settings has been carried out, however, to date most studies have focused on short-term outcomes related to learner reaction, attitudes and perceptions, and knowledge and skills. This study adds to the literature investigating IPE in clinical settings for pre-licensure health professionals by investigating the experiences of learners who, following their IPE clinical placement, had moved into other clinical (workplace) environments. To understand what, if any, influence the clinical IPE experience had on their subsequent professional practice, 13 participants (students and graduates) from five professions were interviewed. Inductive thematic analysis identified that, following their IPE placement, participants engaged in interprofessional practice by seeking and sharing information, embedding other professional goals into patient sessions and conducting joint sessions. Several factors influenced the ability and capacity to collaborate at the individual and organisation level. Findings from this study suggest that the dedicated IPE placements enhanced both student and graduate openness and ability to collaborate with other professions in subsequent clinical workplace settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]