Background
Team-Based Learning (TBL) activities, when well-designed, present significant and specific application exercises that introduce ambiguity and uncertainty, fostering meaningful team decision-making. As healthcare professionals frequently encounter uncertainty in their work, developing a higher comfort with ambiguity is crucial.

Objective
To evaluate changes in second-year pharmacy students' tolerance for ambiguity and uncertainty following participation in TBL sessions across multiple courses.

Methods
Students were invited to complete voluntary pre- and post-surveys, which included the Tolerance for Ambiguity Scale and the Need for Closure Scale (desire for certainty). The surveys were distributed via email before and after students finished eight TBL sessions on a variety of pharmacy practice topics. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics, Spearman’s correlation, Mann-Whitney U, and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests to compare pre- and post-survey responses.

Results
In spring 2024, of 107 second-year pharmacy students, 99 completed the pre-survey, and 60 completed the post-survey. Students who had a lower tolerance for ambiguity also had a higher desire for certainty (p < 0.001; r(97) = -0.7023). From pre- to post-survey, the overall cohort showed a statistically significant increase in Tolerance for Ambiguity (p < 0.0302). While no significant difference was observed in the Need for Closure Scale (desire for certainty) for the overall cohort, a matched pair analysis (N=56) revealed a significant change in scores (p = 0.0247).
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Conclusions
The significant increase in Tolerance for Ambiguity and decrease in Need for Closure (desire for certainty) suggests that TBL experiences may help students become more comfortable with ambiguous situations, a crucial skill in healthcare settings. These findings underscore the potential of TBL as an educational strategy to prepare pharmacy students for the complexities and uncertainties inherent in clinical practice. Further research is warranted to explore the impact of TBL on students' tolerance for ambiguity and desire for certainty.