An exploration of the interaction between professional identity formation and the campus built environment in health professions education

Background: Professional identity formation has been proposed as the backbone of medical education (Cooke et al., 2010a, pg. 7). Educators develop curricula delivering knowledge, skills, and attributes, assisting learners’ transition towards becoming healthcare professionals, through dynamic individual and social processes (Sarraf-Yazdi et al., 2021). In parallel, universities have invested in campus facilities, driven by a range of objectives including improving learning spaces; technology; student social space; and enhancing sense of attachment with the institution. Methods: This qualitative ethnographically informed research explored how students in one higher education institution’s health professional programmes develop professional identity through interactions with each other and the built environment. Pharmacy and medical students’ lived experiences were shared in facilitated focus groups. Observations on campus outside of formal teaching hours were completed. Data was interpreted through a social constructivist lens using reflexive thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2021). Conceptually, symbolic interactionism was used as a framework. Results: The data collection methods generated rich descriptions, insights and understandings of participants, resulting in eight themes and three subthemes. Connections to each other and society were optimised through transparency, inside and outside views, and campus permeability. Lecture Theatres provided opportunities for professional socialisation, inter-professional understanding and reinforced the power of communal learning. Welcoming and accessible places for students to linger and connect facilitated reflection, decompression and support from others in the community of practice. Spaces equipped for authentic learning helped students envisage themselves as future practitioners. This development was further supported through the use of art and artefacts which act as navigational aids. Exertion of agency matters to learners and is facilitated or inhibited through changes in how the built environment is conceived and managed. Conclusion: Physical spaces should be aligned to pedagogical and institutional philosophy to assist in the harmonious development of professional identity cognisant of the needs of society. Impact: Recommendations are made to stakeholders that may foster identity formation through the built environment, along with suggestions for further research in this area.