Development of emotional intelligence in a team-based learning internal medicine clerkship

• Published in: Medical teacher Vol. 34; no. 10; pp. 802 - 806
• Main Authors: Borges, Nicole J., Kirkham, Karen, Deardorff, Adam S., Moore, Jeremy A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Informa UK, Ltd 01.10.2012; Taylor & Francis; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Clinical Clerkship - organization & administration; Cooperative Behavior; Data Collection; Educational Strategies; Emotional Development; Emotional Intelligence; Emotions; Health education; Humans; Internal medicine; Internal Medicine - education; Internships; Learning; Medical Education; Medical students; Ohio; Pedagogy; Personality Inventory; Response rate; Students, Medical - psychology; Teaching Methods; Team work; Teams; Ohio
• ISSN: 0142-159X; 1466-187X
• DOI: 10.3109/0142159X.2012.687121

Background: Although increasing number of articles have been published on team-based learning (TBL), none has explored team emotional intelligence. Aim: We extend the literature by examining changes in team emotional intelligence during a third year clerkship where TBL is a primary instructional strategy. We hypothesized that team emotional intelligence will change in a positive direction (i.e., increase) during the clerkship. Method: With IRB approval, during the 2009-2010 academic year third-year students in their internal medicine clerkship (N = 105, 100% response rate) completed the Workgroup Emotional Intelligence Profile - Short Version (WEIP-S) at the beginning and at the end of their 12-week clerkship. TBL is an instructional strategy utilized during the internal medicine clerkship. Results: Paired t-tests showed that team emotional intelligence increased significantly pre to post clerkship for three of the four areas: awareness of own emotions (p = 0.018), recognizing emotions in others (p = 0.031), and ability to manage other's emotions (p = 0.013). There was no change for ability to control own emotions (p = 0.570). Conclusion: In an internal medicine clerkship, where TBL is utilized as an instructional strategy, team emotional intelligence increases. This supports TBL as an adjunctive tool to traditional medical education pedagogy.