Peers United in Leadership & Skills Enhancement (PULSE): A near peer mentoring program for medical students

Abstract

Implication Statement 
 We created a near peer mentoring program in pre-clerkship, which gave medical students the opportunity to work together, teach others, and practice their clinical skills. It uniquely connects first year “learner-mentees” and second year “instructor-mentors” in semi-structured learning environments, from October to April. Beyond supporting intrinsic motivation, skills development, and collaboration, students gained experience in teaching; an important skill for physicians.

Payment with knowledge: A method for a training of anatomy near‐peer teachers and formation of future anatomists

“…It provides them with the essential communication skills needed for the physician‐patient interaction. It makes them better learners, as they will become future residents and faculty members 70,71 . Participating in an NPT program has served in the professional development of the medical student 23,72‐76 .…”

“…It makes them better learners, as they will become future residents and faculty members. 70,71 Participating in an NPT program has served in the professional development of the medical student. 23,[72][73][74][75][76] These skills constitute a hidden curriculum (leadership, confidence, communication skills, critical thinking, professional attitudes, teamwork, among others), that extended beyond the intended outcomes and helped them succeed in their teaching roles.…”

Taking the PULSE mentorship program “virtual”: reflections by the program coordinators

“…4 However, as others have reported, 5 mentee engagement seemed to decline due to "Zoom fatigue," and the casebased virtual format reduced participants' ability to selfdetermine the focus of the session-compromising a cardinal value of PULSE. 2,4 Based on these experiences and insights, we would recommend the following when trying to hybridize similar NPM programs in medical education:…”

This is a valuable editorial on assertiveness!

“…Neufeld et al wrote “Peers United in Leadership & Skills Enhancement (PULSE): A near-peer mentoring program for medical students.” 19 They described their mentorship program that connected first year “learner-mentees” and second year “instructor-mentors.” They found that PULSE not only encouraged collaboration, it also gave the second year students valuable teaching experience.…”