Development of professional identity and professional socialisation in allied health students: a scoping review

Introduction: Reports on the development of professional identity and socialisation in the healthcare professions are mainly from medicine and nursing, although the body of work from other health professions is increasing. This scoping review investigates what is known about the development of professional identity by students from nine allied health professions and what they experience when developing a professional identity. Methods: Reviewers independently searched five databases: CINAHL Plus, Informit, Ovid Medline, Proquest and Scopus, using either terms from text mining six key articles known to the authors or from the keywords: allied health occupation, student, professional identity, professional socialisation, professionalisation and professional role. Results: Ninety-six articles met inclusion criteria from 3 662 records. Over half the articles were published after 2010 and reported studies using qualitative methods with small numbers of participants. Study participants were mainly from the United States of America, the United Kingdom and Australia, and their professions were social work, occupational therapy and physiotherapy. There was no consensus for terminology of professional identity, and related terms were used interchangeably. Theoretical frameworks varied, with situated learning theory and application of standards or frameworks to meet accreditation or professional organisation requirements being most common. Students reported that early introduction to their profession was beneficial to developing a professional identity. Conclusions: While interest in the development of professional identity has increased, findings indicate that further research, including longitudinal studies, would deepen our understanding of the process of socialisation at different stages and similarities between the professions. This is needed for curriculum development, graduate employability strategies and in order to best prepare students for their future practice.