Interdisciplinary versus multidisciplinary care teams: do we understand the difference?

Abstract

AS A MANAGER OF allied health staff in a major metropolitan health care service, I am responsible for recruitment to a variety of different disciplines. One of the questions I regularly ask at interview centres around the applicant?s understanding of interdisciplinary teams in the health care environment. Anecdotally, I would estimate that only around one in ten individuals can provide an accurate definition of the role of an interdisciplinary team. The remainder default to a description of multidisciplinary teams, and some even utilise the terms interchangeably.