There are increasing calls, from a range of stakeholders in the health sector, for healthcare professionals to work more collaboratively to provide health care. In response, education institutions are adopting an interprofessional education agenda in an attempt to provide health professionals ready to meet such calls. This article considers the nature of and interaction between professional and personal identity, power relations and leadership and followership in relation to the work practices of junior doctors and novice nurses and suggests ways in which understandings from these considerations might influence the educational preparation of students for these professions.