Enhancing the Facilitation of Interprofessional Education Programs: An Institutional Ethnography

Interprofessional collaboration (IPC) among health care professionals has been identified as essential to enhance patient care. Interprofessional education (IPE) is a key strategy towards promoting IPC. Several factors including the nature of facilitation shape the IPE experience and outcomes for students. Stereotypes held by students have been recognized as a challenge for IPE and IPC. This study aimed to explore institutional rules and regulations that shape facilitators’ work in IPE interactions problematized by students’ stereotypes at a university in Atlantic Canada. Employing institutional ethnography as a method of investigation, data were collected through observations, interviews, focus groups, and written texts (such as course syllabi). Participants included three facilitators, two undergraduate nursing students, and two IPE committee members of an IPE program. Findings revealed four work processes conducted by facilitators in local IPE settings related to students’ stereotypes. These processes were shaped by translocal discourse and included the work used to form teams, facilitate student introductions to team members, facilitate team dynamics, and provide course content and context. Study results included the identification of several strategies to address student stereotypes and enhance collaboration, including directions for future curriculum decisions and the pedagogical organization of IPE.