Interdepartmental Commensality: A Strategy for Increased Interdepartmental Collaboration

Area of Science:

• Social Sciences
• Medical Education
• Interdepartmental Collaboration

Background:

• Commensality, the act of eating together, is a long-standing human practice.
• Its potential to enhance professional relationships in academic settings is underexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of an interdepartmental commensality program.
• To assess improvements in cross-departmental familiarity, scholarly discussions, and collaboration.

Main Methods:

• An interdepartmental dining program was established, involving emergency department (ED) faculty and six other departments.
• Participants completed a post-event survey to measure perceived changes in familiarity, willingness for academic discussion, and likelihood of collaboration.

Main Results:

• A 67.9% survey response rate (55/81 participants) was achieved.
• Significant increases were observed in perceived familiarity (2 to 4/5), willingness for academic discussion (4 to 5/5), and anticipated collaboration (2 to 5/5).

Conclusions:

• Interdepartmental commensality programs, like the one initiated by the ED, can effectively enhance professional relationships.
• Such programs show potential for improving cross-departmental familiarity, academic discourse, and collaborative efforts within academic institutions.