Improved climate, culture, and communication through multidisciplinary training and instruction

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to determine the effectiveness of multidisciplinary team training on organizational culture and team communication. STUDY DESIGN: The training included a 6-step protocol: (1) a pretest survey assessing cultural attitudes and perceptions, (2) a baseline high-fidelity simulation session, (3) invitational medical rhetoric instruction, (4) a second high-fidelity simulation session, (5) a posttest survey assessing changed cultural attitudes and perceptions, and (6) a debriefing with participants. Teams of 4 physicians trained together: 2 obstetricians and 2 anesthesiologists. Forty-four physicians completed the training protocol during 2010 and 2011. RESULTS: Paired-sample t tests demonstrated significant decreases in autonomous cultural attitudes and perceptions (t = 8.23, P < .001) and significant increases in teamwork cultural attitudes and perceptions (t = -4.05, P < .001). Paired-sample t tests also demonstrated significant increases in communication climate that invited participation and integrated information from both medical services (t = -5.80, P < .001). CONCLUSION: The multidisciplinary team training program specified in this report resulted in increased teamwork among obstetricians and anesthesiologists.