effects of near-peer cpr workshop on medical students’ knowledge and satisfaction

Background: the acquisition of competencies in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (cpr) amongmedical students requires specific and up-to-date training. in this study, a near-peer workshopgroup was used to assess the effects of cardiopulmonary resuscitation training on students’satisfaction, acquisition, and retention of cpr knowledge.methods: this quasi-experimental study using repeated measure analysis design was conductedwith 120 medical students at the birjand university of medical sciences, iran. the educationalcontent was presented in six workshop sessions under the supervision of a near-peer group. aquestionnaire was used to assess demographics, knowledge, and satisfaction. data analysis wasconducted using spss 14.results: the mean knowledge scores of participants 6.8±2.7, 16.1± 2.6, and 13.5±4.0 before,immediately, and two months after the workshop, respectively. these results showed that themean knowledge score significantly increased immediately after the training. although themean scores fell slightly by two months after the intervention, they remained significantlyhigher than before the workshop. the satisfaction level of all the students of this method wasreported as good.conclusion: in accordance with the positive effects of collaborative learning methods in theteaching-learning process, we used a novel and efficient collaborative method to improve thequality of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (cpr) training. cpr training with a near-peer grouphad a positive impact on student knowledge acquisition, knowledge retention, and learningsatisfaction. therefore, this method may be a useful way to conduct such training workshops.