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Team FIRST framework: Identifying core teamwork competencies critical to interprofessional healthcare curricula

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 March 2023

Philip E. Greilich*
Affiliation:
UT Southwestern Medical Center, Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Management, Office of Undergraduate Medical Education, Health System Chief Quality Office, Dallas, TX, USA
Molly Kilcullen
Affiliation:
Rice University, Department of Psychological Sciences, Houston, TX, USA
Shannon Paquette
Affiliation:
UT Southwestern Medical Center, Office of Undergraduate Medical Education, Dallas, TX, USA
Elizabeth H. Lazzara
Affiliation:
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Department of Human Factors and Behavioral Neurobiology, Daytona Beach, FL, USA
Shannon Scielzo
Affiliation:
UT Southwestern Medical Center, Department of Internal Medicine, Dallas, TX, USA
Jessica Hernandez
Affiliation:
UT Southwestern Medical Center, Department of Emergency Medicine, Dallas, TX, USA
Richard Preble
Affiliation:
UT Southwestern Medical Center, Office of Undergraduate Medical Education, Dallas, TX, USA
Meghan Michael
Affiliation:
UT Southwestern Medical Center, Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Management, Dallas, TX, USA
Mozhdeh Sadighi
Affiliation:
UT Southwestern Medical Center, Office of Undergraduate Medical Education, Dallas, TX, USA
Scott Tannenbaum
Affiliation:
The Group for Organizational Effectiveness, Inc., Albany, NY, USA
Eleanor Phelps
Affiliation:
Office of Quality, Safety and Outcomes Education, Dallas, TX, USA
Kimberly Hoggatt Krumwiede
Affiliation:
UT Southwestern Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics, School of Health Professions, Dallas, TX, USA
Dorothy Sendelbach
Affiliation:
UT Southwestern Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics, Office of Undergraduate Medical Education, Dallas, TX, USA
Robert Rege
Affiliation:
UT Southwestern Medical Center, Department of Surgery, Office of Undergraduate Medical Education, Dallas, TX, USA
Eduardo Salas
Affiliation:
Rice University, Department of Psychological Sciences, Houston, TX, USA
*
Address for correspondence: P.E. Greilich, MD, MSc, Professor; Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Management, Director, Quality Enhancement Plan: Team FIRST; Office of Medical Education, UT Southwestern Medical Center, E02.314, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd, Dallas, TX 75390-9063, USA. Email: philip.greilich@utsouthwestern.edu
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Abstract

Interprofessional healthcare team function is critical to the effective delivery of patient care. Team members must possess teamwork competencies, as team function impacts patient, staff, team, and healthcare organizational outcomes. There is evidence that team training is beneficial; however, consensus on the optimal training content, methods, and evaluation is lacking. This manuscript will focus on training content. Team science and training research indicates that an effective team training program must be founded upon teamwork competencies. The Team FIRST framework asserts there are 10 teamwork competencies essential for healthcare providers: recognizing criticality of teamwork, creating a psychologically safe environment, structured communication, closed-loop communication, asking clarifying questions, sharing unique information, optimizing team mental models, mutual trust, mutual performance monitoring, and reflection/debriefing. The Team FIRST framework was conceptualized to instill these evidence-based teamwork competencies in healthcare professionals to improve interprofessional collaboration. This framework is founded in validated team science research and serves future efforts to develop and pilot educational strategies that educate healthcare workers on these competencies.

Information

Type
Special Communications
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is a work of the US Government and is not subject to copyright protection within the United States. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Association for Clinical and Translational Science.
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that no alterations are made and the original article is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained prior to any commercial use and/or adaptation of the article.
Copyright
© University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 2023.
Figure 0

Fig. 1. Defining the 10 Team FIRST teamwork competencies.

Figure 1

Fig. 2. The Team FIRST framework.