摘要：Background: Interprofessional Education (IPE) is now spreading worldwide and many universities are now
including IPE in their curricula. The aim of this study was to investigate whether or not such student characteristics
as gender, previous working experience in healthcare, educational progress and features of the learning
environment, such as educational programmes and curriculum design, have an impact on their open-mindedness
about co-operation with other professions.
Methods: Medical and nursing students at two Swedish universities were invited to fill in the Readiness for
Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS). Totally, 955 students were invited and 70.2% (n = 670) participated in the
study. A factor analysis of the RIPLS revealed four item groupings (factors) for our empirical data, but only one had
sufficient internal consistency. This factor was labelled “Team Player”.
Results: Regardless of the educational programme, female students were more positive to teamwork than male
students. Nursing students in general displayed more positive beliefs about teamwork and collaboration than
medical students. Exposure to different interprofessional curricula and previous exposure to interprofessional
education were only to a minor extent associated with a positive attitude towards teamwork. Educational progress
did not seem to influence these beliefs.
Conclusions: The establishment of interprofessional teamwork is a major challenge for modern healthcare. This
study indicates some directions for more successful interprofessional education. Efforts should be directed at
informing particularly male medical students about the need for teamwork in modern healthcare systems. The
results also imply that study of other factors, such as the student’s personality, is needed for fully understanding
readiness for teamwork and interprofessional collaboration in healthcare. We also believe that the RIPL Scale still
can be further adjusted.
