Interdisciplinary Studying in the Health Care System

Background: Interdisciplinary cooperation plays a vital role in the health care system. It can contribute to an improved health care quality. For this purpose an interprofessional cooperation of all involved actors is necessary. However, the occupational groups have too little knowledge about the mutual scope of professional duties and are poorly prepared for interdisciplinary cooperation. Objective: This article investigated how students of an interdisciplinary degree course perceive interprofessional cooperation and in which way interdisciplinary degree courses in health care can contribute to improving this cooperation. Method: In summary, 12 half-standardised guided interviews were conducted with students of an interprofessional Bachelor degree course at 4 universities. The collected data was assessed according to content analysis according to Mayring [18]. Results: Though the interviewed students looked positively upon interdisciplinary cooperation, they found potential for improvement. The different prior knowledge resources are considered to be the biggest challenge. During the studies the students are taught competencies which qualify them for an in-depth cooperation with other occupational groups. Conclusions: Interdisciplinary studies provide an optional approach for improving cooperation in the health care service.