Background
The complexity of healthcare globally has been a driving force for the implementation of IPE [The Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) is a self-report scale that allows for the evaluation of students’ readiness for interprofessional learning [An alternate methodology available to capture the uniqueness and diversity in a groups’ perspective is Q-methodology. Q-methodology is used to understand patterns of thought within a given sample [With this in mind, and while acknowledging the novelty of this approach, we posit that by combining the numeric and generalizable strengths of Likert scales, with the subjective and psychologically grounded perspectives emerging from Q-methodology, we will gain critical complementary information about students’ readiness for IPE (“how much”) and their unique vision about IPE (“how diverse”). Ultimately this stands to provide a more rounded and accurate understanding of the students’ perspective about IPE to inform research and educational decision-making.The purpose of this study was to characterize the level of IPE readiness and perspectives across incoming health science students using the RIPLS scale and a matched Q-methodology survey, in which the Q-sorts were derived from statements in the RIPLS scale.