Are your medical technology students team players?

The medical technologist is a key player on the health-care delivery team. Therefore, it is understandable that the standards of the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS) cite the development of teamwork skills as a necessary component in the curriculum for medical technology students to ensure that graduates are prepared to work with others effectively. But to what extent is this competency addressed during the student's clinical year? The objective of this study was to determine the perception of importance of team skills in the medical technologist curriculum as well as to explore methods and approaches used to teach team skills during the course of clinical training. Information was collected from medical laboratory educators via an electronic survey. A majority of respondents (64%) ranked the development of team skills as either very important or important and 69% reported that they have incorporated team-based projects into their curriculum using a variety of different assignments. For maximum learning and skill development, it is essential that educators structure the assignment to ensure individual and group accountability, to facilitate the group process when necessary, and to provide a mechanism for review and reflection.