Same-level peer-assisted learning in medical clinical placements: a narrative systematic review

Abstract

Many student-related benefits of PAL were identified. PAL contributes to the development of crucial skills required for a doctor in the workplace. Vertical integration of learning and teaching skills across the curriculum and tools such as feedback checklists may be required for successful PAL in the clinical environment. Benefits for patients and educators were poorly characterised within the included studies. Future work should evaluate the use of PAL with regards to student, clinician educator and patient outcomes.

Learning ideals: Critical reflections on a near-peer initiative at Leeds

“…Unlike many of the peer-assisted learning initiatives reported in the literature (Tai et al, 2016b;Yeung et al, 2017), our student-tutors are constantly developing their educational knowledge, skills, attitudes, and identities over a full academic year. Furthermore, they receive support for this development from their various medical education modules and their supervision from experienced IDEALS tutors.…”

“…Most previous PAL scholarship has taken the form of standard teaching evaluations, reporting satisfaction ratings or assessing students' later performance in tests of knowledge or skill (Irvine et al, 2017;Tai et al, 2016b). This means that gains in clinical knowledge and skills are most frequently reported, whereas outcomes in harder to measure areas, such as professionalism, remain more speculative (Tai et al, 2016a;2016b).…”

“…A number of reviews and guides have reported benefits of peer-assisted learning (PAL) for tutors, tutees, and institutions (for examples, see Irvine et al, 2017;Ross & Cameron, 2007;Tai et al, 2016b). Most previous PAL scholarship has taken the form of standard teaching evaluations, reporting satisfaction ratings or assessing students' later performance in tests of knowledge or skill (Irvine et al, 2017;Tai et al, 2016b).…”

How does attending PowerPoint free peer to peer teaching impact student experiences at medical school?

“…The unique relationship of junior and senior students allows more than just information exchange (Tai et al 2016). Senior students have a "greater awareness of the curriculum and assessment requirements" as compared to faculty as they have recently been in the exact position of their tutees .…”

“…Social congruence enables tutees to feel less intimidated when being taught by their near peers (Ten Cate and Durning 2007a), enabling a stress free environment for learning, in particular, study skills not normally addressed in formal education could be passed on(de Menezes and Premnath 2016). Beyond the academic benefits, peer teaching has been shown to foster a sense of community within a medical school , develop teamwork skills (Scicluna et al 2015), improve confidence (Field et al 2007, Tai, et al 2016) and increase motivation to study (Topping 1996).…”