Peer-assisted learning for clinical anatomy

Dear Sir

Despite its traditional importance, anatomy teaching has become increasingly depreciated in medical curricula. Indeed, approximately half of the new doctors in the United Kingdom believe that they have received insufficient anatomy teaching at medical school (Fitzgerald et al. 2008).

In the light of such findings, I have been unsurprised as a medical student to find myself and other colleagues often searching for additional resources to further develop our anatomical knowledge in addition to core teaching. One method used to fill the deficit of anatomy teaching that has received considerable success is peer-assisted learning (PAL) (Hall et al. 2013).

At Cardiff University, students in the third and fourth years of the medical course have developed a new student-led society called SIMA Wales. This PAL society provides a series of lectures for the first and second year students covering the gross anatomy of the various regions of the body. The lectures are typically held in the weeks preceding the end of year anatomy exams and are held in a relaxed environment, with free interaction from the audience.

At a recent lecture, 111 students attended and 78 provided optional feedback. When asked to rate how useful the lecture was for their anatomy learning, the mean score received was 7.5 out of 10. Qualitative analysis revealed that the students particularly enjoyed interacting with the peers who had been in their position only a few years ago, and especially valued the learning techniques such as mnemonics which the teachers had passed onto them. Finally, the teachers themselves benefitted from the experience with feedback such as “presenting was a great experience that really gives you confidence” and “it was very useful for refreshing my anatomy knowledge”.

In conclusion, given the success of PAL schemes in delivering anatomy teaching to medical undergraduates, it would seem that PAL offers a valuable (and inexpensive) option to supplement anatomy learning. Therefore, the expansion of such schemes, under the quality-control of academic staff, should be encouraged.

Declaration of interest: Ryan Preece was President of SIMA Wales 2012–2013.