Transformative learning opportunities during interprofessional healthcare practice experiences in higher education: Viewed through the lens of a threshold concepts framework

Introduction: The transformative nature of collaborative interprofessional learning experiences, for both students and educators, signals the importance of identifying transitional learning that transcends professional or disciplinary boundaries for patient-centred care. Threshold concepts (Meyer & Land, 2003) provide a conceptual framework for viewing the way students grapple with new ways of knowing and practising, both individually and collectively, and have been used to inform understanding of how students progress their knowledge, skills and dispositional attributes through the process of collaborative interprofessional practice. This paper identifies and provides insight into transformative learning following students' and educators' engagement in a practice-based program. Methods: This paper reports the qualitative interpretive findings from a mixed methods study on the learning experiences of 14 health students from eight undergraduate health programs and five clinical educators, two interprofessional facilitators and two health administrators engaged in collaborative interprofessional practice in a university context. Results: Interpretive thematic analysis of student and educator focus-group transcripts revealed that transformative learning occurred through cumulative, collaborative learning experiences. The transformative learning thresholds identified in this study included: broadening perspectives on healthcare practice; strengthening sense of professional self; gaining an appreciation of holistic patient care; and actioning holistic, patient-centred healthcare. Conclusions: The threshold concepts framework provided a lens for viewing the experiential learning processes that occurred during the student-led interprofessional program and the transformative nature of knowledge and skills acquisition and integration during interprofessional learning opportunities. The identification of four transformative threshold concepts relevant to interprofessional learning for collaborative practice will assist educators to better understand how to support and challenge learners in collaborative-practice encounters.