Britta M. Thompson

Team-based learning at ten medical schools: two years later

Purpose  In 2003, we described initial use of team‐based learning (TBL) at 10 medical schools. The purpose of the present study was to review progress and understand factors affecting the use of TBL at these schools during the subsequent 2 years.

Factors Influencing Implementation of Team-Based Learning in Health Sciences Education

Background Limited studies have looked at factors that lead to successful implementation of team-based learning (TBL). The purpose of this study was to identify contextual factors associated with implementation of TBL with a larger pool of individuals. Method The authors administered a questionnaire who had implemented TBL via the Web to participants who attended TBL workshops; 297 of 594 responded. We used the constant comparative method to analyze responses. Results Analysis revealed five factors important to successful implementation of TBL: buy-in, expertise, resources, time, and course characteristics, with 60%, 38%, 37%, 36%, and 16% of respondents identifying each factor, respectively. Conclusions When health science faculty and administrators implement TBL or other educational innovations, they must have buy-in, ensure adequate time and resources, develop needed expertise, and determine best fit within a course. Although these results are specific to TBL, they are consistent with models of dissemination and have implications for other educational innovations.

When best intentions aren't enough: helping medical students develop strategies for managing bias about patients.

Introduction/AimsImplicit bias can impact physician–patient interactions, alter treatment recommendations, and perpetuate health disparities. Medical educators need methods for raising student awareness about the impact of bias on medical care.SettingSeventy-two third-year medical student volunteers participated in facilitated small group discussions about bias.Program DescriptionWe tested an educational intervention to promote group-based reflection among medical students about implicit bias.Program EvaluationWe assessed how the reflective discussion influenced students’ identification of strategies for identifying and managing their potential biases regarding patients. 67% of the students (n = 48) identified alternate strategies at post-session. A chi-square analysis demonstrated that the distribution of these strategies changed significantly from pre-session to post-session

Meeting the Family: Promoting Humanism in Gross Anatomy

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A national survey of medical education fellowships.

, including reductions in the use of internal feedback and humanism and corresponding increases in the use of reflection, debriefing and other strategies.DiscussionGroup-based reflection sessions, with a provocative trigger to foster engagement, may be effective educational tools for fostering shifts in student reflection about bias in encounters and willingness to discuss potential biases with colleagues, with implications for reducing health disparities.

Medical Students’ Perceptions of Their Teachers’ and Their Own Cultural Competency: Implications for Education

Background Measurement of the quality of team processes in medical education, particularly in classroom-based teaching settings, has been limited by a lack of measurement instruments. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to develop and test an instrument to measure the quality of team interactions. Method The authors created 30 items and reduced these to 18 items using factor analysis. They distributed the scale to 309 second-year medical students (RR = 95%) in a course that used teams and measured internal consistency, validity, and differences in scores between teams. Results Cronbach’s alpha for the scale was 0.97. Team ratings were variable, with a mean score of 95.7 (SD 8.5) out of 108. Team Performance Scale (TPS) scores correlated inversely with the spread of peer evaluation scores (r = −0.38, P = .003). Differences between teams were statistically significant (P < .001, &eegr;2 = 0.33). Conclusions The TPS was short, had evidence of reliability and validity, and exhibited the capacity to distinguish between teams. This instrument can provide a measure of the quality of team interactions. More work is needed to provide further evidence of validity and generalizability.

Blood glutathione peroxidase-1 mRNA levels can be used as molecular biomarkers to determine dietary selenium requirements in rats.

Background: Human dissection commonly occurs early in the undergraduate medical school curriculum, thus presenting an immediate opportunity for educators to teach and encourage humanistic qualities of respect, empathy, and compassion. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to measure the impact of the Donor Luncheon, a unique program in which medical students meet the families of the anatomical donor prior to dissection in the anatomy course at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. Methods: Students were randomized into groups of 8 to attend the luncheon and either met with family of the donor or attended the luncheon with no donor family present. A questionnaire measured students’ attitudes at 2 weeks, 6 weeks, and at the conclusion of the anatomy course. Results: Factor analysis revealed 5 scales. Analysis revealed statistically significant differences across time for Donor as Person, Dissection Process, and Donor as Patient and statistically significant differences between groups for Donor as Person and Donor as Patient. Conclusions: These results suggest that this program can provide students with the opportunity to maintain more humanistic attitudes at the beginning of their medical education career.

Exploring the learning curve in medical education: using self-assessment as a measure of learning.

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships among variables associated with teams in team‐based learning (TBL) settings and team outcomes.