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

Abstract

Introduction 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.