Interprofessional team-based learning (TBL): how do students engage?

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Interprofessional Healthcare Education
• Collaborative Learning Strategies

Background:

• Interprofessional education (IPE) enhances workplace communication and teamwork skills.
• Team-based learning (TBL) is well-suited for fostering collaboration among health professional students.
• Piloting an interprofessional 'back pain' TBL module for physiotherapy and medical students.

Purpose of the Study:

• To pilot an interprofessional 'back pain' Team-based Learning (TBL) module.
• To explore physiotherapy and medical students' experiences with the TBL process.
• To assess the impact of TBL on interprofessional learning goals.

Main Methods:

• 311 students (medical and physiotherapy) participated in a single interprofessional Musculoskeletal Sciences TBL session.
• A questionnaire with closed and open-ended items was used for data collection.
• Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and qualitative data via thematic analysis.
• Pre-class quiz scores were compared using ANOVA.

Main Results:

• 38% of participants completed the questionnaire.
• Students valued learning about other disciplines, gaining diverse perspectives, and recognized the importance of multidisciplinary teams.
• Facilitators' feedback aided learning consolidation and clinical reasoning.
• No significant difference was found in pre-class quiz scores between medical and physiotherapy students.

Conclusions:

• Team-based Learning (TBL) is an effective student-centered strategy for achieving interprofessional learning goals.
• Student interactions and collaborative problem-solving enhanced learning and perspective-taking.
• Comparative prior knowledge levels facilitated effective in-class interprofessional collaboration.