Can participation in a health affairs interdisciplinary case conference improve medical students' knowledge and...

To explore whether participation in a three-hour health affairs interdisciplinary case conference (HAICC) changed medical students' knowledge and attitudes about the role of interdisciplinary teams in health care.

Faculty from ten University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill health professions' schools helped to design the HAICC. Conference goals included improving students' knowledge and attitudes about the skills of various health professions and the benefits of interdisciplinary care. From 2001-04, 2,005 health professions students, including 615 second-year medical students, participated in the HAICC. Working in teams, students, using the World Health Organization's International Classification of Function and Disability, interviewed a standardized patient and, then, developed a patient-centered management plan. A self-report instrument to assess medical students' knowledge about each of the ten health professions and to assess students' attitudes about working with other health professionals was administered before and after the conference. Repeated measures were used to assess whether medical students' knowledge and attitudes about interdisciplinary teams changed as a result of participating in HAICC.

A total of 605 medical students (98.5%) completed both instruments. Following participation in the HAICC, there were significant increases in students' knowledge about the training and skills of all ten professions, the advantages of working in an interdisciplinary team, and the importance of care provided by these professions. In general, there were significant improvements in students' attitudes toward the value of interdisciplinary team work and leadership by all health professionals.

Participation in a three-hour HAICC resulted in medical students' increased knowledge about and attitudes toward the role of interdisciplinary teams in health care.