Abstract
BackgroundTeamwork between clinical teachers is a challenge in postgraduate medical training. Although there are several instruments available for measuring teamwork in health care, none of them are appropriate for teaching teams. The aim of this study is to develop an instrument (TeamQ) for measuring teamwork, to investigate its psychometric properties and to explore how clinical teachers assess their teamwork.MethodTo select the items to be included in the TeamQ questionnaire, we conducted a content validation in 2011, using a Delphi procedure in which 40 experts were invited. Next, for pilot testing the preliminary tool, 1446 clinical teachers from 116 teaching teams were requested to complete the TeamQ questionnaire. For data analyses we used statistical strategies: principal component analysis, internal consistency reliability coefficient, and the number of evaluations needed to obtain reliable estimates. Lastly, the median TeamQ scores were calculated for teams to explore the levels of teamwork.ResultsIn total, 31 experts participated in the Delphi study. In total, 114 teams participated in the TeamQ pilot. The median team response was 7 evaluations per team. The principal component analysis revealed 11 factors; 8 were included. The reliability coefficients of the TeamQ scales ranged from 0.75 to 0.93. The generalizability analysis revealed that 5 to 7 evaluations were needed to obtain internal reliability coefficients of 0.70. In terms of teamwork, the clinical teachers scored residents' empowerment as the highest TeamQ scale and feedback culture as the area that would most benefit from improvement.ConclusionsThis study provides initial evidence of the validity of an instrument for measuring teamwork in teaching teams. The high response rates and the low number of evaluations needed for reliably measuring teamwork indicate that TeamQ is feasible for use by teaching teams. Future research could explore the effectiveness of feedback on teamwork in follow up measurements.
Highlights
Tackling the issue of teamwork is one of the challenges in reforming professional health education. [1] This applies to teamwork for clinical teachers in postgraduate medical training
The high response rates and the low number of evaluations needed for reliably measuring teamwork indicate that TeamQ is feasible for use by teaching teams
Teamwork is a well-researched phenomenon, where the focus is most commonly on three lines of research: the teamwork skills of individual team members, the team process and team results. [5,6,7] In view of the collective responsibility for team results, it is important that these three research lines on teamwork are addressed. [5,8,9] With regard to the first line of research, Burke presents a model for teamwork skills, including distinguishing knowledge, attitudes, traits and abilities. [10,11] The second line of research, the team process, connects team members’ individual teamwork skills with the team results
Summary
Tackling the issue of teamwork is one of the challenges in reforming professional health education. [1] This applies to teamwork for clinical teachers in postgraduate medical training. [10,11] The second line of research, the team process, connects team members’ individual teamwork skills with the team results. Even though many measurement instruments are available for evaluating teamwork in health care teams, [14] no particular instrument is specific enough for use in teaching teams in residency training. Our research questions are: (i) to investigate whether teamwork in teaching teams in the context of residency training can be measured validly and reliably, and (ii) to explore how individual members of teaching teams evaluate their current levels of teamwork. The aim of this study is to develop an instrument (TeamQ) for measuring teamwork, to investigate its psychometric properties and to explore how clinical teachers assess their teamwork
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