An explorative study on intellectual humility differences among health professional students: Implications for interprofessional education and collaboration

Abstract

Intellectual humility (IH), characterized by four dimensions (open-mindedness, intellectual modesty, engagement, and corrigibility) could promote interprofessional education (IPE) and collaboration (IPC). As this is an understudied concept, we aimed to examine IH differences among various health professional students. Modified surveys assessed student perspectives of IPE/IPC and simultaneously incorporated IH-related themes. Student IH levels (overall and by each IH dimension) were compared by profession. Surveys were completed by 290 students (75 pharmacy, 179 medical, and 36 physician assistant [PA]). Mean IH scores differed across professions, with medical students scoring lowest on most items. When categorized into 4 IH dimensions, significant differences were found across professions on measures of open-mindedness, intellectual modesty, and engagement (p < 0.05) with PA students scoring significantly higher than medical students. Pharmacy students scored higher than medical students only on engagement. This exploratory analysis found probable differences in IH levels among health professional students based on their perspectives on IPE/IPC.