Abstract
Phenomenon
Classroom studies of peer-led teaching and mentoring report benefits for students both as teachers and learners. Such benefits include both improved content mastery and personal and professional development. While benefits of peer-led teaching in the clinical setting have been well characterized among other health professions, less is known within undergraduate medical education. In this study, we explored medical students’ perceptions and experiences relevant to peer teaching and mentoring in outpatient clinical clerkships.
Approach
Third-year medical students enrolled in two different longitudinal primary care clerkships, Education Centered Medical Home (ECMH) or Individual Preceptorship (IP), participated in semi-structured interviews in 2018. Students were asked to describe their peer teaching experiences during the clerkship and to reflect on their experiences serving as role models or mentors. We analyzed transcripts utilizing a two-cycle team-based inductive approach.
Findings
Thirty-three students completed interviews. We derived three main themes: (1) diversity of peer teaching and mentoring opportunities, (2) transitioning one’s role from learner to teacher, and (3) personal and professional development. While participants from both clerkships participated in peer teaching and mentoring experiences, ECMH students described more opportunities to interact with students across all years of medical school training, noting that “getting that guidance and in turn being able to teach is a valuable experience.” ECMH students further perceived the responsibility of creating a comfortable learning environment for others. Students from both clerkships reflected on ‘learning through teaching,’ that teaching served as a reaffirmation of the knowledge they gained, and that teaching experience contributed to their personal and professional growth.
Insights
Students perceived their participation in peer teaching and mentoring experiences in the clinical setting as contributing positively to personal and professional development. Students from both clerkships reflected on their teaching and mentoring opportunities as a facilitator of growth in their own teaching skills; ECMH students further described a heightened sense of self-confidence and fulfillment. These findings highlight the importance of creating learning environments that foster peer teaching and mentoring, as such opportunities may lead to further growth as a learner and as a physician.
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank Elizabeth R. Ryan, EdD for assisting with the development of the interview guide, conducting qualitative interviews, and for her support of the overall longitudinal qualitative project. The authors also wish to thank David T. Liss, PhD, Molly McCahill, Sara Shaunfield, PhD, Wivine Ngongo, and Diane B. Wayne, MD for their ongoing support of and contribution toward research around the Education Centered Medical Home. Finally, the authors thank Stephen D. Persell, MD, MPH, and Deborah Smith Clements, MD for their leadership in obtaining funding support.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Ethical approval
Ethical approval has been granted for this study by the Northwestern University Institutional Review Board (STU00200764); initial approval granted 3/26/15.