Table 2.

Data analysis results

Categories	Subcategories	Code	Meaning units
Educational structure	Facilitating conditions	Closeness of educational and clinical environment	“I have attended several common  clinical rounds and I really can remember whatever I saw and heard … professors taught us excellent, explained and demonstrated all the cases to us, he considered us the same as his students.”
		Different forms of IPE	“As you know in many parts of the world they have same programs in their different universities. This lets the different universities to set up and run a variety of IPE programs like shared round, workshop, etc. We have similar ones in our country.”
		Strengthen the sense of collaboration	“The collaboration of different professions would be better established… if they interact with each other during the training sessions.”
	Barrier conditions	High workload	“We must do different activities in clinical settings… treatment, education, consulting, etc.”
		Compression of  programs	“When we decide to set up our own class schedule, we have many problems, without any doubt coordinating a joint training schedule for different disciplines is a complex task…”
		Centralization of programs	“There is a fact that since our educational system is centralized, there is not any defined position for interprofessional education in educational programs of various fields!”
		Resistance of departments	“To me, one of the challenges in IPE in Iran is the resistance of departments…, heads of departments and managers not only do not consider IPE as a constructive approach…”
Mediating factors	Cultural atmosphere	Educational climate	“Different disciplines should put aside their cultural and mental barriers, and to have an interactive and adaptive relationship to solve problems. Unfortunately we never had the integrated culture.”
	Social conditions	The position of the professions	“Unfortunately, in our country some fields are not valuated … unfortunately, they are not seen as they must be seen.”
	Economic issues	Required resources	"At the first step, providing facilities is the most fundamental elements to run these programs…”
		Budget	“Through offering more budgets to the coordinated universities, we can encourage them to cooperate more.”
Professional identity	Professional merit	Familiarity with roles and responsibilities	“This shared training makes various professions to know about their roles and position in team…”
		A sense of usefulness	“These shared trainings made me interested in my discipline and feel useful…”
	Professional competence	Interprofessional knowledge and skills	“When I am being trained with other professions… I have the opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences with other students.”
Conceptual understanding	Design and implementation of IPE	Familiarity with application of IPE	“A professor for IPE needs requiring knowledge and skills and the collaboration of other disciplines’ professors.”
	Outcomes of IPE	Understand the consequences	“There are many outcomes of IPE such as improving teamwork, collaboration, changing views of different professions etc., which should be known by educational planners.”