Bringing interdisciplinary and multicultural team building to health education: The downstate team-building initiative

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of the Downstate Team-Building Initiative (DTBI), a model multicultural and interdisciplinary health care team-building program for health professions students. Method: A total of 65 students representing seven health disciplines participated in DTBI's first three years (one cohort per year since implementation). During the 18-session curriculum, students self-evaluated their group's progress through Tuckman's four team-development stages (FORMING, STORMING, NORMING, PERFORMING) on an 11-point scale. Students completed matched pre- and postintervention program evaluations assessing five variables: interdisciplinary understanding, interdisciplinary attitudes, teamwork skills, multicultural skills, and team atmosphere. After participation, students completed narrative follow-up questionnaires investigating impact one and two years after program completion. Results: Each year's team development curve followed a similar logarithmic trajectory. Cohort 1 remained in team development stage 3 (NORMING) while Cohorts 2 and 3 advanced into the final stage - PERFORMING. A total of 34 matched preand postintervention evaluations showed significant change in all major variables: Team atmosphere and group teamwork skills improved most (48% and 44%, respectively). Interdisciplinary understanding improved 42%. Individual multicultural skills (defined by ability to address racism, homophobia, and sexism) started at the highest baseline and improved the least (13%). Group multicultural skills improved 36%. Of 23 responses to the follow-up surveys, 22 (96%) stated DTBI was a meaningful educational experience applicable to their current clinical surroundings. Conclusions: DTBI successfully united students across health discipline, ethnicity, socioeconomic class, gender, and sexual orientation into functioning teams. The model represents an effective approach to teaching health care team building and demonstrates benefits in both preclinical and clinical years of training.