Yes. For example, in a given healthcare setting like a hospital there might be a lot of interprofessional conflict, partly due to the sheer complexity of the organization. One example might be that a new doctor is having difficulty with a particular senior nurse. Perhaps the doctor is engaging with others from a power-based stance by using his status as a doctor to assert his authority, which makes a particular senior nurse, who is also questioning and undermining his authority because she feels that she knows better. However, the doctor might be asserting him/herself in such a way because they are terrified of making a mistake in a new setting.

Anyway, whatever the causes of conflict are, interprofessional conflicts can have severe consequences, like breakdowns in communication in regard to a patient, which can lead to further stress and conflict, not to mention endanger the safety and health of a patient. At present, there is a big push to get healthcare professionals to administer team-based healthcare, which means that nurses, doctors, administrators and whoever else might be involved in a patient's care, need to not only be able to communicate, but be able to understand how each stakeholder is able to provide for the patient and how they can each support each other in successfully ensuring the best possible care for their patients.

One of the difficulties is that many healthcare professionals received their training in a time where this way of doing things was not The Way To Do Things and so getting everyone involved in healthcare on board with this transition is a challenge. Conflict training is one strategy that can contribute to creating and administering team-based care, but training alone is likely not enough. Many have also suggested that the presence of third-party conflict specialists could be very instrumental in assisting healthcare professionals make this transition, especially in situations where something terrible happens like a patient suddenly dies due to a medical error. Not only might a patient's family need support, but the clinician who made the error.

So yeah, lots of fertile ground for interprofessional conflict in healthcare: power differentials, differences in training, a lack of awareness of how one's actions or words affect others, high levels of stress due to potential loss of patient life or welfare. I think this is what I'll do my paper on, but maybe not.