Sahar Mohammed¹
Moune Jabre¹, Stella Major¹, Liam Fernyhough¹, Amine Rakab¹ and Thurayya Arayssi¹

1 Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar 

Peer-assisted learning (PAL) has been recognized as an effective approach to promoting a safe and inclusive learning environment that enhances students' confidence and supports success in parallel to faculty-based teaching and assessment [1]. In this study, we implemented a pilot program to prepare senior medical students (MS) to utilize PAL for formative assessment of learners' clinical skills using a multi-stage training. At our institution, junior MS learn physical exam skills through didactics and deliberate practice with formative assessment facilitated by standardized patients (SPs) who have undergone advanced training on the physical exam technique and assessment. 

We invited 52 senior MS to serve as formative assessors, 14 (27%) expressed interest, and 8 (15%) have completed the training program to date. Through this program, senior MS learned and demonstrated the necessary skills to serve as peer facilitators for formative assessment, including adult learning theories, professionalism, and communication skills, which we validated to ensure their skill competence and understanding of the assessment process. Initially, senior MS observed faculty assessing learners prior to themselves serving as the assessors under faculty supervision. The MS were evaluated on their professionalism, aptitude, and ability to motivate learners through iterative performance feedback until deemed competent to function independently. 

Our preliminary evaluation data indicates this program was well-received as 95% of the senior MS expressed confidence to function independently. On average, the training required 6 hours of dedicated faculty and MS time with variability depending on the amount of iterative practice and feedback sessions needed to achieve independence. Faculty were satisfied with the provision of consistent quality formative assessment to learners. This training program provides high-quality PAL for assessment of clinical skills in a positive and standardized environment. The success warrants an opportunity for future research on utilizing PAL for clinical skills and MS as assessors. 

References (maximum three) 

1.Burgess A, McGregor D, Mellis C. Medical students as peer tutors: a systematic review. BMC Med Educ. 2014; https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6920-14-115 

2.Yu TC, Wilson NC, Singh PP, Lemanu DP, Hawken SJ, Hill AG. Medical students-as- teachers: a systematic review of peer-assisted teaching during medical school. Adv Med Educ Pract. 2011; https://doi.org/10.2147/AMEP.S14383 

3.Freret T, Rana J, Schwartzstein RM, et al. Twelve tips for implementation of “student-as- teacher” programs. Med Teach. 2017;https://doi.org/10.1080/0142159X.2017.1333591