Supporting Students’ Interprofessional Identity Formation Through Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction: A Qualitative Inquiry

Saskia C M Oosterbaan-Lodder,1– 3 Anne de la Croix,1,2,4– 6 Jan Jaap Reinders,7– 9 Fedde Scheele,10,11 Rashmi A Kusurkar1,2,4,121Amsterdam Public Health, Quality of Care, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; 2Research in Education, Amsterdam UMC location Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; 3Department of Research and Epidemiology, OLVG, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; 4LEARN! Research Institute for Learning and Education, Faculty of Psychology and Education, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; 5Department of General Practice, Amsterdam UMC location AMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; 6Amsterdam Public Health, Societal Participation & Health, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; 7Research Group Healthy Ageing, Allied Health Care and Nursing, Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Groningen, The Netherlands; 8Research Domain Interprofessional Identity and Collaboration, Research Line Oral Health for Life, Department of Dentistry and Orthodontics, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands; 9Research Group Interprofessional Education (IPE), Lifelong Learning, Education & Assessment Research Network (LEARN), Research Institute Health in Context, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands; 10Athena Institute, Faculty of Science, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; 11Academic Center for Dentistry University of Amsterdam (ACTA), Amsterdam, The Netherlands; 12Amsterdam UMC IDEA Innovation & Development Education Academy, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsCorrespondence: Saskia C M Oosterbaan-Lodder, Department of Research and Epidemiology, OLVG, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Tel +31652543998, Email [email protected]: Despite growing interest in interprofessional identity (IPI) development, there is limited insight into what motivates healthcare students to develop their IPI, specifically in the context of an interprofessional training unit (ITU). This prompted our research question: what motivates students to develop their IPI?Methods: As part of a larger quantitative study conducted between September 2023 and July 2024, qualitative narrative data were collected via an online survey at two Dutch teaching hospitals. Students answered three open-ended questions on what influenced their interprofessional identity before and after placement. Data was analyzed through content analysis, using the three basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, relatedness) as a sensitizing framework.Results: One hundred and seventy-nine students participated, providing 1012 comments. We identified 4 overarching themes: relatedness, competence, autonomy and value of interprofessional education and collaboration (IPE&C).Discussion: This study shows that an ITU placement may enhance students’ IPI formation by satisfaction of the basic psychological needs for relatedness and competence, and to a lesser extent autonomy, suggesting students in this specific ITU context found it challenging to exercise autonomy Students’ IPI formation seems to be a continuous process of reconciling expectations of IPE&C, through previous experiences and stories from others, with lived experiences during interprofessional interactions. We provide practical implications for ITU tutors.Keywords: interprofessional education, interprofessional placement, interprofessional training unit, motivation, faculty development