Near-peer Teaching in Histology Laboratory

Abstract

Background: Near-peer teaching is an educational method based on being taught by one or more students who are more advanced in one specific area of the same curriculum. The aim of this study was to analyze outcomes and medical students’ reactions to near-peer teaching in Histology Laboratory session. Methods: Histology Laboratory session was firstly designed as a practical session driven by academic staff, while in our new approach was driven by Histology intern students, which are upper year students in Medicine curriculum. Our near-peer teaching was evaluated using a multiple choice test when half of students had attended the session, the results of which were compared with those from traditional teaching. A reaction evaluation survey was also administered at the end of the course. Results: Multiple choice test results did not showed statistical differences between near-peer and traditional teaching strategies. Results from the reaction evaluation were mostly positive, especially with regard to feeling comfortable in the session taught by intern students and how intern students managed to transmit the information properly. Conclusion: Near-peer teaching in Histology Laboratory practical session is an effective alternative teaching method, with outcomes equivalent to traditional design, and highly valued by undergraduate medical students

The Resident as Educator: Medical Students’ Perception of a One-Week Online Pathology Rotation Taught by Residents

“…The survey included demographic data of sex and age, and 27 items focused on the perception that students had while being taught by residents instead of specialists during their interactions. The instrument emerges from the research performed by Zabar et al (2004), Nelson et al (2013) and Cambrón-Carmona et al (2016). A Likert scale from 1 to 5 was used, where 1 means total disagreement and 5 total agreement.…”

“…These interactions between learners in different stages of development focusing on the senior student helping the junior learner is called near-peer teaching (Cambrón-Carmona et al, 2016). This model where everyone has a responsibility to care for a learner is part of the professional culture in medical schools (Lopez, Olivares & Heredia, 2020).…”