The Myth of Interprofessional Learning.

Effective interprofessional learning is seen as worthwhile, judging by documents from the UK’S Department of Health and the government, and initiatives by some universities (I use the term ‘interprofessional’ in line with the World Health Organization and will not be drawn into the semantic differentials of multiprofessional, multidisciplinary, multiagency and all the other ‘multis’). It is argued that the benefits of interprofessional learning are often witnessed in the closer and better interprofessional working in clinical areas and obviously patients are the biggest winners. However, the call for interprofessional learning started as far back as the 1960s, but up to now it has not been as established as it should be. Forman and Nyatanga (1999) outlined a catalogue of policies and legislation since 1962 that seem to confirm that interprofessional learning has become a professional myth supported by rhetorical statements. Carpenter and Hewstone (1996) studied interprofessional learning between doctors and social workers and found that both groups supported the ideals of interprofessional education but felt that lack of resources were a major obstacle. If resources are not the whole truth then what is the real obstacle?