Differences in Healthcare Team Types

For years I worked in healthcare using whatever term was most familiar. Multidisciplinary in school. Interdisciplinary in practice. Interprofessional came later.

Nobody sat me down and explained the difference. I learned it by specializing in the field, asking the why questions constantly, digging into the research, and observing what I saw around me... in manuscript submissions I was reviewing, in journal articles I was reading, and in conference poster presentations where I was learning. I kept noticing that people were using multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and interprofessional interchangeably.

What struck me most was that this was happening not just anywhere... it was happening in our interprofessional journals and at our interprofessional-focused conferences. That is when I knew we needed clarity around this.

That observation, and the curiosity behind it, is what eventually led me to write about it. It is also what led me to write this.

The Three Terms Are Not Interchangeable

A multidisciplinary team is one where professionals from different disciplines contribute their expertise independently. Each person works within their own lane, and patients or clients receive input from multiple professions.

An interdisciplinary team is better coordinated. There is more communication and awareness of what other professions are contributing, and team members understand each other's roles. However, each profession still largely leads within its own domain.

An interprofessional team is intentionally designed for full integration. Professions are shaping the work collaboratively. Shared decision-making, shared accountability, and a shared relationship with the patient and family as active participants in care are built into how the team functions. This is not something that happens naturally or by goodwill alone. It is designed intentionally, supported structurally, and built on a foundation of interprofessional education.

Why This Is Not Just Semantics

You get the results you design for.

Each team type requires a different level of knowledge, skills, behaviors, and motivation from the people within it. A multidisciplinary team requires each profession to contribute independently and competently within its own domain. An interdisciplinary team requires coordination and communication across professions, though the level of that interaction is vague and will vary. An interprofessional team requires a shared approach, the development of an interprofessional identity, and much more that makes full integration possible.

When you understand those differences, you can design intentionally. Whether you are building a curriculum that prepares students for interprofessional practice, leading a team and shaping the environment that makes collaboration possible, or working on the frontline and trying to understand what your team is designed to achieve, the knowledge of what each team type requires changes how you show up and what you are able to build.

This is not about which team type is better. It is about being clear on what you are designing, what it requires, and whether the knowledge, skills, behaviors, and structures around you are aligned with that intention.

You Do Not Have to Figure This Out Alone

I spent years piecing this together through research, observation, and specialization in the interprofessional field. My goal now is to make that foundation accessible to anyone who is doing this work, regardless of where they are starting from.

If you are new to this language or need clarity, start with the free video I created that walks through all three team types, their similarities, and their differences.

If you are an educator looking for a structured resource, the second edition of our interprofessional education textbook begins in Chapter 1 with exactly this content, because we believe it is the anatomy and physiology of everything that follows in interprofessional education and collaborative practice.

If you are part of a health system education or professional development team and you are looking for resources to support your interprofessional work, this video is a strong starting point. Share it with your team and reach out if you would like to talk about what else is available.

We are better together...and better does not happen by accident.