Practicing Peer Physical Examination by Medical and Allied Health Professions Students: Why the Hesitation and Where are We Now? A Narrative Literature Review

Figures & data

Table 1 Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria	Exclusion Criteria
1. Studies dealing with the perception, attitude, and acceptance of medical and other allied healthcare professions.	1. Papers published before 2010.
2. Those include medical, chiropractic, orthopedic, and nursing students.	2. The published papers that have subjects in PPE that reflect topics away from the study questions.
3. Studies published from January 2010 to December 2022.	3. Any type of published or unpublished work including dissertation, letters to editors, commentaries, and similar ones.
4. Only English language studies will be used.	4. Review articles.
5. Quantitative studies only with full-text access.	5. Qualitative and mixed studies (qualitative and quantitative studies).

Figure 1 Flowchart of the literature selection process according to PRISMA guidelines 2020.

Table 2 Studies Characteristics

Author/Year	Country of origin, Study design	Sampling/Population	Title
Chen et al (2011)^Citation17	Country: China Design: survey (mixed: cross-sectional and longitudinal design).	n= 100 Medical students	Does medical student willingness to practise peer physical examination translate into action?
Consorti et al (2013)^Citation30	Italy Survey (cross-sectional)	Convenience sampling n= 241 Medical and osteopathic students	Evaluation of the acceptability of Peer Physical Examination (PPE) in medical and osteopathic students: a cross sectional survey
Wearn et al (2013)^Citation31	New Zealand Survey (Dual cohort, cross-sectional)	n= 128 Nursing students	Exploration of the attitudes of nursing students to peer physical examination and physical examination of patients
Manjunath et al (2014)^Citation2	India Survey (cross-sectional)	n= 53 Medical students	Medical Student’s Perception And Preferences About Peer Physical Examination (PPE)
Reid et al (2015)^Citation32	Australia Survey	n= 243 Medical students	Abdomen and chest examinations in peer physical examination: Variation in participation by gender
Taylor and Shulruf (2016)^Citation11	Australia Survey	n= 130 Medical students	Australian medical students have fewer opportunities to do physical examination of peers of the opposite gender
Vaughan and Grace (2016)^Citation12	Australia Survey	n= 105 Osteopathic students	Perception of peer physical examination in two Australian osteopathy programs
Burggraf et al (2018)^Citation33	Germany Survey	n= 142 Medical students	Willingness of medical students to be examined in a physical examination course
Ardakani et al (2022)^Citation10	Australia Survey	Convenience sampling n= 184 Chiropractic students	Exploring 1st- and 2nd-year chiropractic students’ willingness and attitudes toward peer physical examination
Soqia et al (2022)^Citation18	Syria Survey (cross-sectional)	n= 657 Medical students	Syrian medical students’ acceptance of peer physical examination and its associating factors: a cross-sectional study

Chen JY, Yip ALM, Lam CLK, Patil NG. Does medical student willingness to practise peer physical examination translate into action? Med Teach. 2011;33(10):e528–e540. doi:10.3109/0142159X.2011.599893

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Consorti F, Mancuso R, Piccolo A, Consorti G, Zurlo J. Evaluation of the acceptability of peer physical examination (PPE) in medical and osteopathic students: a cross sectional survey. BMC Med Educ. 2013;13(111):1–9. doi:10.1186/1472-6920-13-111

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Wearn AM, Bhoopatkar H, Mathew TK, Stewart L. Exploration of the attitudes of nursing students to peer physical examination and physical examination of patients. Nurse Educ Today. 2013;33(8):884–888. doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2012.08.012

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Manjunath H, Venkatesh D, Taklikar RH, Vijayanath V. Medical student’s perception and preferences about peer physical examination (PPE). Asian J Health Sci. 2014;2(1). doi:10.15419/AJHS.V2I1.423

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Reid K, Sutherland R, Dodds A, McNair R, Pierce D. Abdomen and chest examinations in peer physical examination: variation in participation by gender. FoHPE. 2015;16(2):13–26. doi:10.11157/fohpe.v16i2.66

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Taylor S, Shulruf B. Australian medical students have fewer opportunities to do physical examination of peers of the opposite gender. J Educ Eval Health Prof. 2016;13(42):42. doi:10.3352/jeehp.2016.13.42

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Vaughan B, Grace S. Perception of peer physical examination in two Australian osteopathy programs. Chiropr Man Therap. 2016;24(21):1–11. doi:10.1186/s12998-016-0102-2

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Burggraf M, Kristin J, Wegner A, et al. Willingness of medical students to be examined in a physical examination course. BMC Med Educ. 2018;18(1):1–8. doi:10.1186/s12909-018-1353-5

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Ardakani EM, Theroux J, Beynon AM, Losco B. Exploring 1st- and 2nd-year chiropractic students’ willingness and attitudes toward peer physical examination. J Chiropr Educ. 2022;37(1):13–19. doi:10.7899/JCE-20-7

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Soqia J, Shamaa MA, Alhomsi D, et al. Syrian medical students’ acceptance of peer physical examination and its associating factors: a cross-sectional study. BMC Med Educ. 2022;22(898):1–10. doi:10.1186/s12909-022-03985-5

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