Strides in Development of Medical Education

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Specialist in Community Medicine, Associate Professor of Community Medicine Dept., Medical Sciences Research Center, School of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Iran

2 M.Sc. in Health Services Management, School of Health and Nutrition, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Iran

3 Ph.D. in Biostatistics, Assistant Professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology Dept., School of Health and Nutrition, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Iran

4 Medical Student, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Iran

Abstract

Background & Objectives: One of the remarkable innovations in enhancement of human forces ability especially in universities is utilization of experiments and capacities of students in the higher years of a course of study in the training of those in lower years in an updated system named Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) Current study aims to survey the perspectives of academic members and students in the Faculty of Medicine Tabriz University of Medical Sciences about the required infrastructures for implementation of Peer Assisted Learning proposed by the research group Methods: Following a vast literature review and interviews with experienced educational experts the researchers designed a questionnaire about the required infrastructures for the implementation of peer assisted learning Content validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by obtaining the opinions of 10 experts and reliability was confirmed through a pilot study A total of 289 medical students and academic members participated in the study Data were analyzed by SPSS 16 Results : According to the obtained results implementation of this system requires administration of abundant prerequisites and infrastructures that can be categorized into 5 topics of “selecting appropriate educators” “preparing the educators for acting properly” “creating adequate and effective motivation in educators” “modifying educational frames and rules for administration of this system” and “planning and supervision to achieve a successful administration of the proposed system” Conclusion: Most participants were in agreement with the proposed infrastructures and the obtained results were similar to those found in previous studies and similar systems Executive leaders in this field should notice that successful implementation of the proposed system requires numerous infrastructures

Keywords

  1. Field M, Burke JM, McAllister D, Lloyd DM. Peer Assisted Learning: a novel approach to clinical skills learning for medical students. Medical Education. 2007;41(4):411-18.
  2. Hudson JN, Tonkin AL. Clinical skills education: outcomes of relationships between junior medical student’s senior peers and simulated patients. 2008;42(9):901-8. Medical Education.
  3. Sporer N, C. Brunstein J. Fostering the reading comprehension of secondary school students through peer-assisted learning: Effects on strategy knowledge, strategy use and task performance. Contemporary Psychology. 2009;34(4):289-97. Education
  4. Boud D, Cohn R, Sampson J. Peer Learning and assessment. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education. 2006;24(4):413-26.
  5. Sobral DT. Cross-year peer tutoring experience in a medical school: condition and outcomes for student tutors. Medical Education. 2002;36(11):1064-70.
  6. The Impact of Peer-Designed and Led USMLE step 1 Review Course: Improvement in Preparation and Scores. Available From: URL: http://journals.lww.com/academicmedicine/Ab stract/2010/10001/The_Impact_of_a_Peer_Des igned_and__Led_USMLE_Step.15.aspx
  7. Peets AD, Coderre S, Wright B, Jenkins D, Burak K, Leskosky S, et al. Involvement in teaching improves learning in medical students: a randomized cross-over study. BMC Medical Education. 2009;9(55):1-5.
  8. Weyrich P, Celebi N, Schrauth M, Moltner A, Lammerding-Koppel M, Nikendei C. Peer- assisted versus faculty staff-led skills laboratory training: a randomized controlled trial. Medical Education. 2009;43(2):113-20
  9. Knobe M, Munker R, Sellei RM, Holschen M, Mooij SC, Schmidt-Rohlfing B, et al. Peer teaching: a randomized controlled trial using student-teacher to teach musculoskeletal ultrasound. Medical 2010;44(2):148-55. Education.
  10. Rogers DA, Regehr G, Gelula M, Yeh K, Howdieshell T, Webb W. Peer teaching and computer-assisted learning: An effective combination for surgical skill training? Journal of Surgical Research. 2000;92(1):53-5.
  11. Henning JM, Weidner TG, Marty MC. Peer Assisted Learning in Clinical Education: Literature Review. Athletic Training Education Journal. 2008;3(3):84-90.
  12. Hajizadeh E, Asghari M. Statistical Methods and Analyses in Health Biosciences. Tehran: Sazmane entesharate jahade daneshgahi; 2010.[In Persian]
  13. Yaghmaie F. Content validity and its estimation. Journal of Medical Education. 2003;3(1):25-27. [In Persian]
  14. Morgan, Krejcie. Determining sample size for research activities. Educational and Psychological Measurement. 1970;30(3):60710.
  15. Weidner TG, Popp JK. Peer-Assisted Learning is effective in improving orthopedic evaluation psychomotor skills. Journal of Athletic Training. 2007;42(1):113-9.
  16. Secomb J. A systematic review of peer teaching and learning in clinical education Journal of Clinical Nursing.2007;17(6):703-16.