Margaret Miers

TL;DR: Initial findings from a longitudinal quantitative study of two cohorts of students who entered the 10 pre-qualifying programmes of the Faculty of Health and Social Care, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK indicate that most students rated their communication and teamwork skills positively, and were favourably inclined towards interprofessional learning, but held negative opinions about interprofessional interaction.

TL;DR: Investigating students' reasons for choosing a particular nursing specialism, midwifery or other non-medical health profession suggests that although a service orientation remains a key factor in choosing nursing, students also look for a career which matches their interests and attributes, as well as offering professional values and rewards.

TL;DR: Although most students were positive about their communication and teamwork skills, they were less positive than on entry to the Faculty and there was a negative shift in students' attitudes to interprofessional learning and interprofessional interaction.

TL;DR: This study reinforces the argument for including IPE in pre-qualifying curricula, suggesting that individuals' perceptions of their own educational experience are inadequate as an evaluative measure of interprofessional learning initiatives.

TL;DR: Students whoqualified on the interprofessional curriculum were more positive about their own professional relationships than those who qualified on the previous uniprofessional curricula, suggesting that interprofessional education does not inhibit the development of profession-specific attitudes.