A Narrative Inquiry of Critical Events Supporting Professional Identity Formation in Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences.

Objective: Professional identity formation (PIF) is the process of internalizing a profession's core values and beliefs so that one begins to think, act, and feel like a member of that profession. PIF occurs over an individual's professional socialization in stages, precipitated by critical moments or experiences. The purpose of this study was to answer the following: (1) What are the critical events for pharmacy student PIF in introductory pharmacy practice experiences?; and (2) How do these events support or challenge PIF?

Methods: This study used critical event narrative inquiry methodology.

A longitudinal, narrative case-study of interprofessional socialization among pharmacy students.

Introduction: Despite growing evidence that interprofessional education (IPE) develops students' attitudes and competencies towards collaboration, there is a lack of theoretical, longitudinal research to inform the development of IPE initiatives. The purpose of this study was to examine pharmacy student interprofessional identity development during early professional and interprofessional socialization experiences in the pharmacy curriculum and at early entry into pharmacy practice.

Methods: This longitudinal, narrative case study used one-on-one, semi-structured interviews conducted at four time points; pre-entry, end of first term, end of first year, and two years post-graduation.