Ten considerations for implementing effective and sustainable near-peer teaching in clinical anatomy education

Abstract

Near-peer teaching (NPT) is becoming increasing popular in medical education. The rationale and benefits of introducing such programs have been well documented and are usually described in terms of their advantages to the teacher, students and faculty. As a team that have successfully introduced two NPT anatomy programs in the last six years at the University of Southampton, we have taken a largely evidenced based approach in offering 10 considerations to ensure the implementation of a sustainable and effective NPT program in anatomical sciences. We have highlighted important aspects of NPT that will help maximise the benefit of such programs and emphasised particular areas where careful thought is necessary. We conclude that to safeguard sustainability and consistency of any given NPT program, faculty and student partnership is required, as is the maintenance of quality control and evaluative techniques.

The Efficacy of Frontline Near‐Peer Teaching in a Modern Medical Curriculum

“…Learners agree with the notion that NPTs are useful within the curriculum (Fig. ), which contradicts the more traditional opinion that NPT is a supplementary intervention only (Santee and Garavalia, ; Tolsgaard et al, ; Weyrich et al, ; Rees et al, ; Border et al, ).…”

Quality improvement education for medical students: a near-peer pilot study

“…The steady supply of motivated junior doctors at teaching hospitals across the UK suggests that this approach could be made sustainable [18]. Standards can be maintained by using materials developed by senior staff [16]. Other forms of near-peer teaching have been shown to be non-inferior to teaching by faculty staff [19,20].…”

“…Tutors also benefit by developing teaching skills and consolidating their own knowledge [15]. Quality assurance is an important consideration in these programmes, and development of teaching materials and oversight by senior clinicians and educators is recommended [16].…”

Quality improvement education for medical students: a near-peer pilot study

“…Our initiative promoted the development of teaching and QI capabilities amongst trainees. The steady supply of motivated junior doctors at teaching hospitals across the UK suggests that this approach could be made sustainable [18] Standards can be maintained by using materials developed by senior staff [16]. Other forms of near-peer teaching have been shown to be non-inferior to teaching by faculty staff [19,20].…”