Navigating the educational landscape in primary care: Medical student interprofessional placements across communities of practice

Despite challenges, interprofessional education during clinical placements offers well documented benefits. Interprofessional learning remains underutilised and under-researched in primary care practice-based settings. Sydney Medical School, Australia, implemented a program placing medical students in diverse primary care health professions. Grounded in bounded relativism and social constructivism, This study explored students’ perceptions of the educational value of these placements. Data from second year medical student survey responses (n=299) from 2021–2023 and ten student written reflections and interviews (2021–2022) were triangulated. We employed situated learning theory as a theoretical framework which envisioned student learning across various health professions representing different communities of practice (CoPs). These form a complex social learning system, creating an intricate landscape of practice. We derived four themes: (1) A real-world understanding of primary care (2) Reaching a broader understanding of roles (3) Broadening clinical expertise and (4) Boundary crossing and navigating barriers. While their engagement with other health professions was peripheral, students reported considerable benefits from interprofessional learning in primary care. Using the landscape of practice model, this study highlighted how boundary objects impacted students’ learning as they navigated various CoPs. These insights align with situated learning theory, emphasising the value of interprofessional experiences beyond traditional medical training.