Voluntary undergraduate technical skills training course to prepare students for clerkship assignment: tutees’ and tutors’ perspectives

Abstract

BackgroundSkills lab training has become a widespread tool in medical education, and nowadays, skills labs are ubiquitous among medical faculties across the world. An increasingly prevalent didactic approach in skills lab teaching is peer-assisted learning (PAL), which has been shown to be not only effective, but can be considered to be on a par with faculty staff-led training. The aim of the study is to determine whether voluntary preclinical skills teaching by peer tutors is a feasible method for preparing medical students for effective workplace learning in clerkships and to investigate both tutees’ and tutors’ attitudes towards such an intervention.MethodsA voluntary clerkship preparation skills course was designed and delivered. N = 135 pre-clinical medical students visited the training sessions. N = 10 tutors were trained as skills-lab peer tutors. Voluntary clerkship preparation skills courses as well as tutor training were evaluated by acceptance ratings and pre-post self-assessment ratings. Furthermore, qualitative analyses of skills lab tutors’ attitudes towards the course were conducted following principles of grounded theory.ResultsResults show that a voluntary clerkship preparation skills course is in high demand, is highly accepted and leads to significant changes in self-assessment ratings. Regarding qualitative analysis of tutor statements, clerkship preparation skills courses were considered to be a helpful and necessary asset to preclinical medical education, which benefits from the tutors’ own clerkship experiences and a high standardization of training. Tutor training is also highly accepted and regarded as an indispensable tool for peer tutors.ConclusionsOur study shows that the demand for voluntary competence-oriented clerkship preparation is high, and a peer tutor-led skills course as well as tutor training is well accepted. The focused didactic approach for tutor training is perceived to be effective in preparing tutors for their teaching activity in this context. A prospective study design would be needed to substantiate the results objectively and confirm the effectiveness.

Impact of a pre-clinical skills course with Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) on preparedness and confidence levels of medical students in Africa

“…This is consistent with previous research on tutors in other countries. 14 An extensive literature review on clinical skills training by Bugaj and Nikendi, published in 2016, referred to Miller's Learning Pyramid that distinguishes four levels of competence or training objectives -knows, knows how, shows how, and does. As the student transitions from cognitive understanding to competence in performing the psychomotor skills on patients, it is beneficial to not only learn the skill but to demonstrate their abilities.…”

“…[11][12][13][14][15][16] Falk et al specifically documented improved confidence in clinical skills of students preparing for surgical internships and though not taught initially, suturing was the skill most appreciated by students as the program developed into a full-year course. Improved student confidence influenced academic progression, clinical procedural standardization, and development of a more culturally sensitive curriculum.…”

Tutor-led teaching of procedural skills in the skills lab: Complexity, relevance and teaching competence from the medical teacher, tutor and student perspective

“…All tutors, who taught in the WS 2014/2015, were in the sixth to tenth semester of medical studies, but not every tutor taught all skills. The tutors were trained by specialists of the respective disciplines for all procedural skills before they led facultative or mandatory classes [13]. Advanced study stage procedural skills, such as in pediatrics, gynecology, and otorhinolaryngology, were preferably taught by five especially experienced tutors from the eighth to tenth semester.…”

“…Currently, all German medical faculties have come to employ student tutors for teaching procedural skills [1]. Extant literature supports this approach: several randomized controlled studies on skills lab training have been able to show that student tutors and medical teacher are on a par [9][10][11], if tutors have received adequate and sufficient training previously [12][13][14].…”

Evaluation of a Pilot Educational Program on Safe and Effective Insertion and Management of Peripheral Intravenous Catheters

“…Most cannulation in general hospital settings is undertaken by unskilled, rotating junior medical staff. 3 This is compounded with the fact that information in medical textbooks and even contemporary online media that could potentially assist with teaching infusion therapy and PIVC management is also lacking. 4,5 The practices associated with risk factors for PIVC failure could be reduced if larger numbers of appropriately skilled clinicians were able to care for PIVCs and manage this common procedure.…”