Student response to team-based learning and mixed gender teams in an undergraduate medical informatics course

Objectives: Team-based learning (TBL) is increasingly being used in medical and medically-related courses. The aim of this study was to evaluate student responses to a TBL-based course in medical informatics at the Sultan Qaboos University, Oman. Methods: A total of 11 TBL sessions were run during a 14-week semester of the Medical Informatics II course at SQU. An online student evaluation was performed in week 13 of the course. Results: Of the 108 students on the course, 96 (88.9%) of the students responded to the survey. For the most part, the students regarded TBL favourably, and derived great benefit from the TBL sessions. Cultural norms, however, appear to have impacted negatively on the females' experience of the TBL sessions. Conclusion: TBL's benefits in the medical informatics course were recognised by the students. In such an environment, however, facilitators will have to bear in mind and continually address cultural issues.