Team building: will it work in health care?

Team building has been shown to be effective in industrial organizations by methods that have been thoroughly researched and tested. Although there is a recognized need for health care teams, certain characteristics of health care professionals and organizations pose difficulties in implementing team procedures. Many educators have proposed interdisciplinary education for students in the health professions as a means of early socialization to the team concept. The concepts of team building are outlined and related to the specific application of health care teams. An explanation is offered for some of the difficulties encountered in this approach.