EMERGING THEMES - AN EXPLORATORY RESEARCH-PROJECT OF AN INTERPROFESSIONAL EDUCATION MODULE FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL AND NURSING-STUDENTS

This paper will detail themes emerging from the first stage analysis o f a project that was commissioned by the Department of Health. In eval uating the effectiveness of interprofessional teaching and learning op portunities for undergraduate medical, dental and nursing students, th e project will also reveal wider institutional problems and opportunit ies in shared curriculum development. The research focuses on an exist ing Community Module within the medical and dental curriculum, which h as incorporated BSc nursing students. Based on pre-module focus groups , semistructured interviews and an extract from a reflective project d iary, the paper will describe the emerging themes of personal interest to the researchers concerning student perceptions and expectations of their shared learning. This early data suggests that in their first t erm at college, the students reveal inconsistencies in their stereotyp ical attitudes towards the 'status' of their intended professions. The y also demonstrate attitudes that challenge traditional views. The stu dents also offer similar discrepancies in their views on the value of interprofessional learning. It would be premature to draw any firm con clusions from this preliminary analysis of selected data. However, the analysis provides early evidence of the key cultural, professional an d institutional issues central to the planning and implementation of i nterprofessional curricula.