empowering clinical students through peer learning in a medical program: whatworks?

Background: peer learning has shown to be beneficial among other teaching and learning modalities to encourage learners to achieve these expected attributes. “consultoid” is a peer-assisted and student-directed proctoring program to improve clinical competencies. objectives: this paper focuses on the participants’ self-perceived impact of “consultoid” and additional factors required to create a sustainable framework. methods: a mixed-method analysis was utilized. thematic analysis was used as a qualitative method that features open comments based on four factors to determine the outcome of its execution: timing of activities allowing adaptability, peer teachers’ ability to engage with the learners, promoting participants’ intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and relevance of program content. the quantitative method involved the five-point likert scale in which participants assessed their self-perceived clinical competencies pre- and post-self-assessment, with 1 being unconfident and 5 being most confident. paired t-test was used to make the comparison between the two tests. results: the thematic responses generated were condensed into global themes to reach a conclusion. the results, such as relevance to clinical practice and encouraging team-based reciprocal learning while allowing high flexibility and accountability, fit into the proposed framework of the consultoid program. students reported a higher confidence level in their overall clinical competency from the pre-and post-test evaluation (peer learners, p = 0.02 and peer teachers, p = 0.12). conclusions: the consultoid program encourages participation, motivation, and team building and has shown to be highly adaptive.