Interprofessional collaboration (IPC) is fundamental to delivering high-quality, patient-centred healthcare, as it fosters teamwork among professionals from diverse disciplines to address patient needs holistically (Schot, Tummers & Noordegraaf 2020). The World Health Organization (WHO) emphasises IPC as a critical practice for improving global healthcare outcomes, highlighting its role in reducing medical errors, enhancing efficiency and ensuring better patient experiences (Moghaddasi 2019). Studies from high-income countries demonstrate that integrating IPC into healthcare systems leads to improved clinical decision-making and better health outcomes (Reeves et al. 2010). Consequently, IPC has become a core competency in healthcare education, with growing emphasis on training future professionals to collaborate effectively in multidisciplinary teams. However, despite its proven benefits, IPC implementation varies across regions, particularly in resource-limited settings where structural and systemic barriers persist (Dow & Reeves 2016).

Interprofessional collaboration has been widely integrated into the curricula of developed countries (high-income countries – HICs). While its integration in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is increasing but remains largely in the early, emerging or pilot stages (Neill et al. 2023). While HICs focus on strengthening established, often mandatory IPE programmes to manage chronic conditions and patient safety, LMIC implementation is frequently limited by resource constraints, rigid hierarchical structures and lack of faculty training (Sunguya et al. 2014).

In daily practice, nurses frequently find themselves in coordinating roles that are often unrecognised formally.

Their continuous presence at the bedside allows them to detect subtle changes in patient conditions that may go unnoticed by others. Nurses communicate patient concerns to physicians, clarify care instructions for families and liaise with allied health professionals to ensure continuity and safety. Baek et al. (2023) emphasises that nurses often serve as intermediaries within healthcare teams, facilitating information flow and supporting decision-making processes. While this intermediary role is not always visible in organisational hierarchies, it is essential to the smooth functioning of interprofessional teams. Nurses’ engagement in collaboration directly influences the integration of care and the efficiency of patient management systems.

While interprofessional education has gained global recognition, its integration into local professional development structures varies. Exposure to collaborative training during formal education may not adequately prepare nurses for navigating complex institutional cultures. Without continuous professional development opportunities focused specifically on teamwork, conflict resolution and shared leadership, IPC remains dependent on individual initiative rather than on systematic reinforcement (Bester, Van Wyk & Maree 2024).

Therefore, such differences in disciplinary training backgrounds can further influence expectations regarding authority and participation. When professions are socialised differently in their decision-making processes, alignment requires deliberate effort.

To address these challenges, educational strategies such as interprofessional education (IPE) have been implemented in healthcare training programmes. Interprofessional education aims to expose students from diverse professional backgrounds to shared learning experiences, fostering early appreciation of mutual respect, role understanding and collaborative competencies (Uwimana et al. 2025). While the theoretical benefits of IPE are clear, the practical impact on long-term professional behaviour remains uncertain. Clinical environments frequently reshape ideals encountered during training, reinforcing hierarchical norms and limiting opportunities for meaningful engagement Bsharat et al. (2025). In this way, students may learn the value of collaboration in theory, but the realities of staffing shortages, high workloads and entrenched authority structures can inhibit its consistent practice.

Extensive research in high-income countries has demonstrated that embedding IPC within healthcare systems leads to improved clinical decision-making, enhanced patient safety and higher healthcare efficiency. In the United States and Canada, IPC has a standardised component of healthcare education and practice, with IPC models being widely adopted in hospitals and primary care settings (Reeves et al. 2010). Studies from these countries have shown that collaborative care models improve patient recovery rates, reduce hospital readmissions and enhance overall healthcare delivery (Hilty et al. 2015). Beyond routine healthcare, IPC plays a pivotal role in responding to global health crises. During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, countries that implemented strong IPC frameworks were able to coordinate multidisciplinary responses effectively, ensuring rapid patient assessment, efficient use of medical resources and improved infection control measures (Howe 2022). In contrast, nations with fragmented healthcare systems and weak IPC struggled to manage patient surges, leading to higher mortality rates and systemic inefficiencies (Doherty 2020).

Despite its proven benefits, IPC implementation varies significantly across regions, with LMICs facing greater challenges in integrating interprofessional approaches into healthcare systems (Edoh 2021). Structural and systemic barriers, such as limited financial resources, workforce shortages, lack of standarised IPC training and deeply rooted professional hierarchies, hinder the widespread adoption of collaborative healthcare models (Dow & Reeves 2016). These disparities highlight the need for context-specific strategies to strengthen IPC, particularly in resource-limited settings like sub-Saharan Africa, where effective interprofessional teamwork could significantly enhance healthcare outcomes (Pajalich 2019).

The University of Namibia (UNAM), the country’s leading institution for training health professionals in disciplines such as nursing, medicine, pharmacy and allied health sciences, serves as an education hub in Namibia. As part of their education, students undertake clinical placements in hospitals, clinics and community health centres, providing them with opportunities to engage in real-world IPC. For health sciences students, clinical placements serve as a critical period for developing collaborative competencies. These placements provide an opportunity to work alongside professionals from other disciplines, learn about their roles and observe the dynamics of team-based care in action. However, without structured support and intentional efforts to promote IPC during these placements, students may struggle to navigate interprofessional interactions. They may also perpetuate the silos and hierarchies that have historically hindered collaboration in healthcare settings.

Interprofessional education was introduced at the UNAM by integrating community-centred, collaborative curriculum models across all the schools within the faculty reinforced by international partnerships and advocacy from the Africa Interprofessional Education Network (AfrIPEN 2017). The aim is to address the current social and health needs within the country. It is widely accepted that there is an interplay between learning and the learning environment; therefore, strategies are introduced to improve IPE activities (North et al. 2023). This initiative recognises that effective education depends on aligning both pedagogy and educational leadership with current social and health needs.

These insights from this study are critical for informing curriculum development, shaping clinical training programs and fostering a culture of collaboration within Namibia’s healthcare system. Ultimately, by equipping students with the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed for effective IPC, educational institutions can contribute to a more integrated and patient-centred healthcare system. The study aimed at exploring and describing the experiences of Faculty of Health Sciences on IPC. Understanding student’s experiences, this research aimed to contribute to the development of enhancing strong IPC and promote teamwork, effective communication and improved patient-centred care in Namibia’s healthcare system.

The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the experiences of Faculty of Health Sciences students regarding IPC in healthcare settings within the Khomas Region, Namibia.

The findings revealed that while students generally recognised IPC as vital to improving patient care and professional growth, they encountered significant barriers that limited effective collaboration. Similarly, studies conducted in both high- and low-resource contexts confirm that health professionals conceptualise IPC as essential to addressing complex patient needs (Orchard, Curran & Kabene 2022; Reeves, Palaganas & Zierler 2017).

The study found that students viewed IPC as an essential component of quality healthcare delivery and professional development. Participants highlighted teamwork, shared learning and patient-centred care as key benefits of working collaboratively with peers from other health disciplines. These findings are consistent with previous studies that emphasise IPC’s role in fostering mutual respect, improving communication and enhancing patient outcomes (Reeves et al. 2010; Schot et al. 2020). Students’ descriptions of learning from other disciplines mirror the findings of Slaghmuylder et al. (2025), who argue that IPC builds appreciation for the distinct but complementary roles within a healthcare team. Overall, Martimianakis et al. (2020) found that collaboration, when role-model during problem-solving, creates conditions for understanding ‘why’ collaboration matters, while Paxino et al. (2024) demonstrated that team meetings provide practical, time-efficient learning opportunities.

Participants reported that IPC enriched their clinical decision-making by exposing them to diverse professional perspectives, which aligns with findings by Botma and Snyman (2019), who highlight that multidisciplinary collaboration improves diagnostic accuracy and decision quality. The emphasis students placed on teamwork and patient-centred care also reflects the core competencies of IPC outlined by Mohammed, Anand and Saleena Ummer (2021), namely, values and ethics, roles and responsibilities, communication and teamwork. This finding aligns with Katantha et al. (2025) who emphasise that incomplete or one-way communication compromises patient safety, diminishes trust among team members and reduces collaboration efficiency. International evidence mirrors this, with studies in Kenya demonstrating similar challenges in which written-only orders delayed care and hindered collaboration between nurses and doctors (Nzinga, McGivern & English 2019).

These competencies are foundational for preparing students for collaborative clinical practice. However, Zhao et al. (2024) study that collectively represented observations from approximately 200–300 healthcare professionals across multiple settings, providing a moderate-strength evidence base for IPC’s learning potential, cautioned that empirical evidence for individual learning remains relatively weak, suggesting the need for more rigorous research.

Despite these positive perceptions, several barriers were identified that hindered the effective practice of IPC.

The most notable challenges included role ambiguity, hierarchical structures, poor communication and limited exposure to structured interprofessional engagement. Research further suggests that fostering a shared interprofessional identity can attenuate hierarchical influence, encouraging more equitable participation across professional boundaries (Schot et al. 2020). These barriers have also been documented in prior studies (Smets & Visser 2023). The evidence suggests these barriers are widespread and require comprehensive, multi-level interventions to overcome.

Participants’ accounts of uncertainty regarding professional roles illustrate a lack of clarity in defining the scope of practice across disciplines, leading to confusion and duplication of tasks. This supports findings by Oandasan and Reeves (2005), who assert that unclear professional boundaries weaken collaboration and compromise patient care. Consequently, Jabbar et al. (2023) specifically highlighted that 68.6% of healthcare professionals reported role and leadership ambiguity as a significant barrier, and 68.1% noted different individual team members’ goals. Overall, Rawlinson et al. (2021) identified unclear roles as one of the main obstacles; however, they also found that at times, lack of time and fears about professional identity may also hindered the effective practice of IPC.

Hierarchical dynamics were another major obstacle. Students reported that decision-making often remained dominated by certain professions, particularly medicine, which discouraged open dialogue and collaboration.

Similar findings by O’Rourke et al. (eds. 2013) and Reeves et al. (2010) indicate that power imbalances undermine team cohesion and restrict knowledge sharing. In the Namibian context, such hierarchies may be further entrenched by traditional healthcare models that prioritise physician authority over interdisciplinary consensus.

Poor communication also emerged as a critical barrier. Participants recounted instances of miscommunication and inadequate information sharing among team members. This aligns with the work of Abd Hamid et al. (2016), who found that communication breakdowns significantly contribute to medical errors and inefficiencies. Strengthening structured communication channels, such as regular multidisciplinary meetings or electronic health record systems, could help mitigate these issues.

Finally, limited exposure to IPC during clinical placements restricted students’ opportunities to develop collaborative competencies. This finding is consistent with El-Awaisi et al. (2024), who warn that insufficient exposure to interdisciplinary practice during training can reinforce professional silos and hinder the development of teamwork skills. Therefore, the systematic integration of IPC into the curriculum is essential to equip students with the necessary skills for future collaborative practice.

Participants proposed several strategies to strengthen IPC within healthcare training and practice. These included introducing a structured IPC module before clinical placements, promoting open communication, establishing joint ward rounds, encouraging mentorship and reinforcing institutional support. Such recommendations are consistent with global best practices in IPE and collaboration (Barr et al. 2016; Freeth et al. 2005).

The suggestion to introduce a pre-clinical IPC module is particularly noteworthy. As Oandasan and Reeves (2005) argue, early exposure to collaborative principles fosters an understanding of teamwork and prepares students for interdisciplinary environments. Mentorship and leadership were also emphasised as critical to nurturing positive attitudes towards IPC, echoing findings by Freeth et al. (2005), who identified mentoring as a catalyst for sustained collaboration among healthcare students.

Furthermore, critically, successful collaboration requires systemic interventions addressing individual, interactional, professional and organisational dimensions (Dib & Belrhiti 2025). Therefore, participants’ call for institutional support underscores the importance of organisational commitment in embedding IPC within training and healthcare systems. Institutions that prioritise IPC through curriculum design, policy development and interdepartmental collaboration are more likely to produce graduates who are competent in teamwork and communication (Nash 2023; Reeves et al. 2010). In the Namibian context, this may involve universities and the Ministry of Health aligning efforts to ensure that clinical education environments actively promote interdisciplinary collaboration.

The study highlights that while students recognise the importance of IPC, they face significant barriers that hinder its implementation. Lack of role clarity, hierarchical structures and poor communication were identified as key challenges. However, students also proposed solutions, such as structured IPC training, mentorship and better institutional support to improve collaborative healthcare delivery. By addressing these challenges and implementing these recommendations, universities and healthcare institutions can foster a culture of IPC that benefits both students and patients. The study also contributes to the limited body of literature on IPC in Namibia, providing valuable evidence that can inform curriculum development, clinical training and healthcare policies. Additionally, the use of semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis allowed for a rich understanding of students’ perspectives, making the findings highly relevant for education and practice.