Presented By: Claire Foerster, University of San Diego Sanford School of Medicine
Co-Authors: Belle Grady, University of San Diego Sanford School of Medicine
Val Kozmenko, University of San Diego Sanford School of Medicine

Purpose
Healthcare has shifted toward team-based patient care. Studies have demonstrated that individual expertise and professional excellence of the team members often does not result in the optimal team performance and patient care. In addition to individual professional competency, team members should have effective team communication skills. Current medical school curricula primarily focus on individual clinical competency of their graduates and are just beginning to address the team-based competencies. Course analysis and a university-wide survey have revealed the need for a larger longitudinal course that will teach fundamentals of team dynamics, leadership, and communication skills. 

Methods 
To assess educational needs of the target audience, three sources of information have been used: (1) university-wide student survey to assess attitudes toward interprofessional education, (2) ICU IPE course analysis, and (3) team-communication and leadership skills assessment survey. Based on the obtained results, the LSTC course is developed. LSTC incorporates effective team communication protocols described by TeamSTEPPS course. In addition, LSTC covers (1) principles and phases of effective team formation, (2) Pearson-Marr personality archetypes, their strengths and weaknesses, (3) biases and stereotypes that affect team dynamics, decision-making, and performance, (4) leadership styles, (5) fundamentals of organizational change, and (6) task analysis. 

Results 
The course has been developed and implemented for the first round of students, who will complete the course in Fall 2024. At the time of the presentation the authors will report the results of the completion of the didactic and simulation portion for the first round of students to go through the course as well as the results of the educational needs assessment, learning objectives of the course, assessment instruments, and the content. 

Conclusion 
Effective leadership and team communication skills will soon be expected from medical school graduates. The LSTC course will ensure these competencies are achieved and documented.