The "we" and the "others" in an interprofessional surgical context: findings from a Portuguese study

The social identity of an individual is defined by the recognition they make which belongs to a particular group (Tajfel, 1984). In this sense, will doctors and nurses, when together in the surgical team, recognize themselves as its members, thus leaving the background identities associated with their own professions? Using social identity theory of Tajfel (1984), this study explored the extent that profession-specific identity, present in the surgical team, acting as a barrier to a shared team identity. A case study design was adopted, and structured interviews were gathered from 20 clinicians based in a surgical unit in a single Portuguese hospital. The results indicated that the profession-specific identifies acted as a barrier to the surgical team identity as the participants defined themselves as its members of their profession, and not as surgical team members. Therefore, based on the results of this small study, there is a tendency of surgical clinicians to maintain the distinction between “us” (their own profession) and “others” (the other individuals in the surgical team).