Working in teams has long proven to be beneficial. How might the world be different if Watson did not have Crick and Franklin? Or Lewis without Clark? Or Jobs without Wozniak?
The medical school admissions process is so competitive, that often students attempt to go it alone through the process. And while that strategy might be successful for some, it isn’t healthy in the long run! In fact, its a well known fact that students that study in teams, see better results. There is a great article about a peer collaboration study by Grockit located here.
Aside from better outcomes, working in teams teaches students an important skill set for the road ahead, especially since the practice of medicine is so reliant on functioning as part of a team. A cardiac surgeon really can’t do her job without an anesthesiologist.
The recently released 2013 Medical Graduate Questionnaire from the AAMC shows that 73% of medical graduates this year “report that their education included training in teams with other health professionals, such as nurses, dentists, pharmacists, osteopaths, public health professionals, and others.” So the earlier the skill of working as a team is learned the better!
Further the new Core Personal Competencies approved by the CoA contain an entire category (the largest category, no less) for Interpersonal competencies, one of which is Teamwork. This makes the further case for students to collaborate with peers as they can expect to have their teamwork skills evaluated in the admissions process!
As you are welcoming students back to your campuses, continue to encourage them to work as part of teams, not just so they do better now, but learn a skill that will benefit them greatly in the future!
