Effects of community-oriented education using team-based learning on students' motivation to practice community health care

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate changes in health university students' attitudes toward community service before and after a community-oriented education program using team-based learning (TBL). Methods: A community-oriented educational program using TBL was carried out with a total of 529 3rd- and 4th-year students in seven faculties of two departments at Fujita Health University, and a questionnaire survey was conducted before and after the program. There were eight questions on students' attitude toward community service. Results: Responses with no missing information from 431 students were used in the analysis. There were significant increases in the number of positive responses to three questions after TBL. The item "I think there are things that university students can do as members of the community" increased from 81.9% before TBL to 86.5% after, "I can form specific images of activities that benefit the community" increased from 46.0% before to 70.3% after, and "In the future I want to participate in activities that benefit the community" increased from 74.7% before to 80.3% after. Conclusion: The results suggest that this community-oriented educational program using TBL raised the motivation of university students in medical and health science programs to practice community health care.