Teamwork among first year health sciences students in an interprofessional course: a contact theory perspective.

Background: Promoting teamwork outcomes remains an important mandate for interprofessional education (IPE). While IPE has grown exponentially in contemporary health sciences education, theoretical application within IPE has been identified as an enduring gap in the field over the past few decades. Purpose: This paper reports on the theoretical implications of a study which explored first year health sciences students’ perceptions and experiences of teamwork within an interprofessional course. Originating in the field of social psychology, contact theory has been cited as a useful framework for curriculum design for IPE. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to contribute to the theoretical evidence base for IPE from the perspective of social psychology. Method: Framed in an exploratory qualitative design, focus group discussion was the primary method of data production. Data were analyzed deductively with reference to contact theory; and inductively using thematic analysis. Discussion: The study findings highlighted two of contact theory’s conditions for positive intergroup contact: ‘equal status’ in relation to professional hierarchies; and ‘institutional support’ in relation to academic politics were both meaningful in the context of this study. Conclusion: This study’s findings indicate potential for further research of contact theory’s optimal conditions in IPE contexts, with the proviso that students’ emerging professional identification must be made salient.