A scoping review of interprofessional education in healthcare: evaluating competency development, educational outcomes and challenges
Patel, Hemal, Perry, Simone, Badu, Eric, Mwangi, Felista, Onifade, Oyepeju, Mazurskyy, Alexander, Walters, Joanne, Tavener, Meredith, Noble, Danielle, Chidarikire, Sherphard, Lethbridge, Lee, Jobson, Liam, Carver, Hamish, MacLellan, Annabelle, Govind, Natalie, Andrews, Graham, Kerrison-Watkin, Greg, Lun, Elizabeth, and Malau-Aduli, Bunmi S. (2025) A scoping review of interprofessional education in healthcare: evaluating competency development, educational outcomes and challenges. BMC Medical Education, 25 (1). 409.
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Abstract
Background: Interprofessional education (IPE) is essential in healthcare to enhance collaboration, communication and teamwork among health professions education students. This review aimed to map out the core competencies health professions education students develop during IPE and identify the positive and negative educational outcomes. Methods: A comprehensive search strategy was developed and reported in accordance with the PRISMA ScR guidelines. The search was conducted across five electronic databases (Medline, Scopus, Web of Science, PsycINFO and EBSCO) for peer-reviewed articles published in English within the last 20 years. Data was extracted and core competencies were categorised into four defined areas—roles and responsibilities; interprofessional communication; values for interprofessional practice; teams and teamwork. The frequency of occurrence of each core competency, along with the positive and negative outcomes of IPE were analysed. Mixed methods analysis was used to integrate both qualitative and quantitative data. Results: Team and teamwork emerged as the most frequently attained core competency in IPE. The positive impacts of IPE include significant improvements in role clarity, communication skills, and teamwork dynamics. However, negative impacts were also noted, such as logistical challenges and interpersonal issues like power dynamics and communication barriers, which impeded the personal professional growth and professional interactional skill-related benefits of IPE. Additionally, some participants reported feeling overwhelmed by the extra workload required for IPE activities. Conclusion: IPE is a valuable component of health professions education, significantly contributing to the development of core competencies necessary for interprofessional collaborative practice. Addressing the challenges and implementing best practices can further enhance the effectiveness of IPE programs, ultimately improving healthcare outcomes. The implications for practice, training of healthcare students and future research are discussed.
| Item ID: | 87745 |
|---|---|
| Item Type: | Article (Research - C1) |
| ISSN: | 1472-6920 |
| Keywords: | Core competencies, Health professions education, Healthcare students, Interprofessional communication, Interprofessional learning, Roles and responsibilities, Teamwork, Values for interprofessional practice |
| Copyright Information: | © The Author(s) 2025. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. |
| Date Deposited: | 03 Feb 2026 05:55 |
| FoR Codes: | 39 EDUCATION > 3903 Education systems > 390305 Professional education and training @ 50% 32 BIOMEDICAL AND CLINICAL SCIENCES > 3202 Clinical sciences > 320299 Clinical sciences not elsewhere classified @ 50% |
| SEO Codes: | 20 HEALTH > 2001 Clinical health > 200199 Clinical health not elsewhere classified @ 100% |
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