Purpose: A major advancement in interprofessional(IP) practice and education has been the introduction of the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) core competencies. The purpose of this study is to explore stereotyping as a barrier to achievement of the IPEC competencies. Methods: There has been research into barriers to interprofessional collaboration and some barrier themes have occurred. But to this point, nothing has been studied on barriers to the use of the IPEC core competencies. This study aims to show barriers to achievement of the IPEC competencies through a narrative literature review. Articles were selected from three databases: CINAHL, Medline and ERIC were utilized in this review using the search terms “Interprofessional collaboration” and “Stereotyping”. Results: In articles used to review barriers to interprofessional collaboration, an underlying theme of negative stereotyping about different professions appears to be in place. Themes include: Differences in history and culture, fears of diluted professional identity, differences in language and jargon, and concerns regarding clinical responsibility. Conclusion: A literature review of studies on implementation of interprofessional activities, with correlations to the IPEC core competencies as a framework suggest that stereotyping may be a major barrier to implementation and achievement of the IPEC competencies
