Keywords: interprofessional education, epistemic injustices, incorporated knowledge, transformational learning

Background:

Informal and hidden curricula as well as the positivist paradigm partly explain the decline in empathy observed among health students. They also generate epistemic inequities that are exerted on patients but also between health professionals. An interprofessional program involving patient-mentors was set up as part of the initial training of health students to improve this situation

Research questions:

How does the programme contribute to achieving its intended objective, and what are the underlying mechanisms that help identify its active components?

Method:

Forty-five health students from six different training courses were brought together in small groups on four occasions with a patient-mentor. The qualitative study combined individual and group interviews as well as written responses to a questionnaire.

Results:

These meetings acted as a trigger for transformational learning. The students became aware of some of their prejudices and limitations, which should foster more horizontal relationships with patients and other health professionals. The self-management of the groups, the fact that the number of participants in these groups was relatively small, the multiple encounters with a patient outside of care, and the suggested themes for discussion, enabled the updating of learning mechanisms. The latter refer to decentration, humility, nonjudgment and closeness which were actualized in these groups. The development of autonomous thinking and the consideration of their own feelings can be seen as intermediate effects. The final effects are the development of embodied knowledge of the patient-centered approach and an increased sense of responsibility. Both dimensions are manifested in new resolutions and new professional practices.

Conclusions:

The study explains the learning processes of the students in teaching of this order. But it also shows that transformational learning is still possible at this stage of their studies

Points for discussion:

What strategies are needed to support the sustainability of transformational learning beyond the initial programme setting?

To what extent does this programme challenge dominant paradigms in health education, and how can these shifts be institutionally supported?