Know Thyself: Bridging Social, Professional, and Interprofessional Identities in Interprofessional Education

Social identities play a significant role in shaping professional identity as students integrate their personal values and experiences into the norms and expectations of their chosen fields (Thomas et al., 2024). Students have multiple, overlapping identities that influence their perceptions of and interactions with others. The intersection between these identities may impact students’ sense of belonging, engagement with course content, academic outcomes, and, ultimately, professional and interprofessional identity formation (IPIF). The dissonance between students’ personal and professional identities can present an additional challenge, where feelings of marginalization can further delay professional socialization and self-actualization in their professional career (Thomas et al., 2024). To positively influence IPIF, defined as “the development of a robust cognitive, psychological, and emotional sense of belonging to interprofessional community(s), necessary to achieve shared context-dependent goals” (Tong et al., 2020), it is essential to build trust and respect amongst team members. This process includes holding intentional spaces in the curriculum for students to voluntarily share aspects of their identity that can impact how they learn. To reconcile personal, professional, and interprofessional identities, educators must leverage and integrate inclusive teaching opportunities, while also developing a strong understanding of their values and how these align with their professional and interprofessional roles, in the classroom and professional circles (Hymel & Katz, 2019).Session outline with active learning strategies: This mini-workshop session will include reflective exercises where participants connect social identity concepts to inclusive learning practices, ensuring practical application in their teaching. Participants will explore the intersection of personal, professional, and interprofessional identities and how these identities influence learning processes. They will also gain deeper insights into how to strengthen the students’ sense of belonging in interprofessional teams. This session will use small group discussions of case studies, followed by a whole group debrief. Live polls will be used throughout the presentation to gauge participant perspectives.