These factors, compounded with the current
highly competitive selection processes for health
professional degrees, often result (unsurprisingly)
in students undertaking their training with
individual needs and wants to the fore. Learning
to work in collaborative health care teams focused
on best possible patient care requires explicit
appreciative learning, reflective and experiential
practice; these core skills are best established
early on and then embedded throughout training.
For senior undergraduate students to be ‘practice
ready’ on graduation, they need knowledge
about the principles of good teamwork, to have
experienced interprofessional collaborative working,
and to have been part of a well-functioning
health care team.2