Thesis advisor: Judith A. Vessey / This undergraduate thesis explores the underlying problem of interprofessional conflict and the resulting poor communication between physicians and nurses. It establishes the importance of understanding and addressing this subject within the health care community on a basis of reported negative outcomes, including compromised patient safety and quality of care. It also proposes a preventive health model as the most effective approach to describing the problem. An exploration of the antecedents to this interprofessional conflict identifies gender identity as having a significant role in setting the stage for the kind of relationships between nurses and physicians that harbor tension. Gender roles are discussed in the context of the developing professional identities of both physicians and nurses. The discussion further identifies how these social and professional distinctions result in the imposition of hierarchical arrangements that give way to oppressive relationships. The analysis proposes a need for dialogue –a form of primary prevention- regarding the oppressive internalized sexism that appears to have resulted from this hierarchical evolution. / Thesis (BS) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. Connell School of Nursing. / Discipline: College Honors Program.