Medical Students’ Attitudes about Team-Based Learning in a Pre-Clinical Curriculum

Abstract

Background: Team-Based Learning is relatively new in medical education. Team-Based Learning was integrated into one medical school’s pre-clinical curriculum in 2002. Purpose: This study com­pared how medical students’ attitudes about the Team-Based Learning process changed between the first and second year of medical school. Method: 180 students responded to 19 statements regarding their attitudes about Team-Based Learning during their first and second year of medical school. Data were analyzed using a Mann-Whitney U test. Results: Significant changes in attitudes occurred in the areas of Professional De­velopment, Satisfaction with Team Experience, and Satisfaction with Peer Evaluation but not in the areas of Team Impact on Quality of Learning and Team Impact on Clinical Reasoning Ability. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that students’ attitudes about working within teams, their sense of professional development, and comfort and satisfaction with peer evaluation change in a curriculum using Team-Based Learning. Keywords: attitudes, team-based learning, medical students