Qualitative analysis of pre-licensure student perceptions of ingroup professional stereotypes

Abstract Background Current interprofessional education quantitative instruments used to assess student stereotypes of their own and other professions may not be the most effective tool to measure outcomes. Purpose An investigation of current stereotyping terms being used to describe health professions is warranted. Method Students, representing twenty academic programs, reflected on one positive and one negative perception that existed about their future profession. Using an exploratory inductive approach, reviewers read student written reflections and used a codebook to track words and phrases identified by students. Discussion 787 student reflection papers were reviewed. Sixteen themes describing in-group stereotypes were identified. There were eight positive perceptions and eight negative perceptions. Five words and three themes were identified from existing assessment tools. Eight new perception themes not included in existing quantitative tools were found. Conclusions There is a need to consider refinement of current stereotype assessment instruments or development of a new instrument, which is more inclusive of a variety of health professions and language used worldwide.