Team Training of Inter-Professional Students (TTIPS) for improving teamwork.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Surgical Training
• Interprofessional Collaboration

Background:

• Dysfunctional teamwork in surgery is often perpetuated by a 'silo' mentality among students.
• Interprofessional education (IPE) using high-fidelity simulation-based training (SBT) offers a potential solution to counteract this modeling.
• The study investigates the effectiveness of SBT in improving teamwork attitudes and skills.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if SBT of interprofessional student teams changes long-term teamwork attitudes.
• To assess if SBT is an effective form of team training for surgical students.

Main Methods:

• A quasiexperimental, pre/postintervention comparison design was used with 42 interprofessional teams.
• Participants included third-year medical and senior undergraduate nursing students.
• Data collected via TeamSTEPPS Teamwork Attitudes Questionnaire (TTAQ), Readiness for Inter-Professional Learning (RIPL) surveys, and Teamwork Assessment Scales (TAS).

Main Results:

• Both student groups showed significant improvements in RIPL items and TTAQ mutual support subscales.
• Medical students demonstrated a significant improvement in the TTAQ team structure subscale.
• Observer-rated and self-rated TAS subscales significantly improved during the SBT sessions.

Conclusions:

• IPE utilizing high-fidelity SBT is effective in teaching teamwork to students.
• SBT demonstrably changes interprofessional attitudes and improves long-term teamwork attitudes.
• This training modality positively impacts team structure and mutual support among future healthcare professionals.