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PURPOSE Interprofessional collaboration (IPC) among health professionals is well-recognised to enhance care delivery and patient outcomes. Emerging evidence suggests that the early socialisation of students in health professional programmes to teamwork may have a positive impact on their future as collaborative practitioners. With a purpose of contributing to growing evidence on the processes of professional identity construction, and to explore how early expectations and perceptions of IPC develop during professional socialisation and pre-licensure education, our study examined the early professional socialisation experiences among five groups of health professional students. METHOD A qualitative, narrative approach was used to examine early professional socialisation among five programmes of health professional students (dentistry, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, physiotherapy) at an Atlantic Canadian University. In March and October 2016, students participated in interviews after first term (n = 44) and first year of study (n = 39). Interviews focused on participants' professional identify formation, as well as their perceptions and experiences of IPC. The authors analysed interview transcripts using narrative analysis. RESULTS Findings identify that despite the espoused importance of IPC within health professional training, students have a limited understanding of their professional roles and are largely focused on developing a uniprofessional, vs. interprofessional identity. Clinical experiences, role models and exposure to teamwork are critical to contextualise collaborative practice and enhance the development of an interprofessional identity. CONCLUSIONS Findings can be used to guide the development of curricula that promote interprofessional identity development and IPC during early professional socialisation.

Dysfunctional interprofessional teams are a threat to health system performance and the delivery of quality patient outcomes. Implementing strategies that prepare future health professionals to be effective collaborators requires a comprehensive understanding of how early professional socialization and professional identity formation occur. We present findings from a qualitative study, grounded in narrative methodology, examining early professional socialization among students across five health professional programs (dentistry, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, physiotherapy) in the first year of health professional training. Between April and September 2015, students (n = 49) entering programs at an Atlantic Canadian University participated in one-on-one, audiotaped interviews starting before formal program orientation. Pre-entry interviews focused on factors influencing students' career choice and expectations of future profession and interprofessional collaboration (IPC). Findings revealed that many different experiences influenced participants' career choice and framed the social positioning of their future career (e.g., leadership, prestige, autonomy). Participant narratives revealed the existence of stereotypes pertaining to their chosen and other health professions. Study findings provided insights that may help strengthen initiatives to promote positive professional identity formation within the context of IPC. Implications of this research highlight the need for the early introduction of IPC including pre-entry recruitment messaging for prospective health professionals.

Understanding the values of traditional landowners is key to effective management of industrial developments. The Northern Territory (NT) coast and marine estate is host to significant oil and gas development, yet is relatively undisturbed and is rich in biodiversity and cultural heritage. Over 80% of the NT coastline is owned by Aboriginal Traditional Owners. There is an increasing push by Traditional Owners to formally recognise their connection to the marine environment and the deep traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) these strong connections cultivate. Documenting TEK provides an effective tool for communities to communicate with industry and government regarding ecologically and culturally important sites.

The UK Government has set targets for biodiversity conservation in England based on several indicators, including the status of protected areas [e.g. Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs)]. Specifically, the Government aims to achieve favourable condition [defined by Common Standards Monitoring (CSM)] on 95% by area of SSSIs by 2010. SSSIs are important for threatened butterflies and management to achieve favourable condition will play a key role in determining future population levels of these high-profile insects. Because only notified features of SSSIs are considered within CSM, we investigated the level of notification for three threatened butterflies. We found that these species were notified at only 15–33% of SSSIs where they occurred; though most site managers did manage for them under broader site conservation objectives. We investigated the relationship between SSSI condition status and population trend for eight butterfly species of conservation concern to assess the benefit to butterflies of sites attaining favourable condition status. The majority (80%) of population trends on SSSIs in favourable condition were positive, suggesting an overall beneficial impact of SSSI management. However, four of the eight species maintained lower populations at favourable condition SSSIs than at sites in one of the unfavourable condition categories. We suggest that current condition assessment based chiefly on notified vegetation communities lacks the sensitivity to identify the complex habitat conditions for these (mosaic) species. As butterflies are good indictors for a wide range of invertebrates, many species requiring fine-scale habitat heterogeneity may be at risk from the Government’s target.