A pilot project on medical students as peer tutors: Perspectives from stakeholders

Abstract

Introduction: Peer teaching has been used in the continuum of medical education, but until recently this model has generally not been formalized in the undergraduate medical curricula. Evidence suggested that peer teaching can be beneficial for both students and peer teachers in providing a comfortable learning environment and developing teaching skills to prepare for internship. The institution may also benefit from supplementary teaching manpower. This pilot project aims to examine the feasibility of peer teaching in the medical curriculum. Method: The pilot project focused on teaching physical examination skills to Year 4 medical students at the bedside. Prior to the bedside teaching session, a training tutorial were held by academic staff. The teaching session was done in August 2018, involving 3 groups of 6-8 Year 4 medical students. Each group were led by 1 clinician and 1 Year 5 medical student as peer tutor. Peer tutors had the opportunity to observe teaching by the clinician, and to teach under supervision and eventually on their own. Feedback from clinicians, peer tutors and students were obtained by interviews, emails and questionnaire survey. Findings: Students felt less intimidated and appreciate the tailored teaching at their current level. Clinicians also appreciated the presence of peer tutors, and believed the peer tutors could benefit from having extra training and supervision. However, concerns were raised with the confidence and competence of peer tutors. Peer tutors valued the reassurance from clinicians and were confident to teach. Yet they felt minimal incentive to teach in place of clinicians, and expressed concern with timetabling conflicts with their own learning opportunities. Conclusion: The peer teaching session was generally well-received by students and clinicians. More training on basic teaching skills and reinforcement of the skills being demonstrated would further improve the confidence and competence of peer tutors in teaching. Coordinated administrative arrangements are also essential.