An evaluation of near-peer teaching in neuroanatomy

Hall, S., Powell, M.R. and Border, S (2012) An evaluation of near-peer teaching in neuroanatomy. [in special issue: Abstracts presented at the joint winter meeting of the Anatomical Society, British Association of Clinical Anatomists, and the Institute of Anatomical Sciences, 19th to 21st December 2011, University of Cardiff, Wales] Clinical Anatomy, 25 (6), 803.

Abstract

The use of near-peer teaching in gross anatomy education has previously been explored using student demonstrators, and evidence exists for the educational benefit to both the student teacher and the learner. However, the use of near-peer teaching in clinical neuroanatomy has yet to be adopted and could be an effective approach in overcoming some of the difficulties medical students face with learning the subject. Two medical students at the University of Southampton (one fourth year and one final year) designed a series of seven teaching sessions, which combined the use of both tutorials and practicals. The aim was to provide clinically orientated sessions to help third-year medical students become better prepared for their intermediate examinations. Feedback revealed an average overall rating of 4.3 of 5.0. Evaluation results indicated that there was a significant perceived increase in student knowledge (P < 0.0001) and an average enjoyment rating of 3.3 of 5.0. These results support the use of near-peer teaching as an approach to improve integrated neuroanatomy knowledge in the clinical years of an established medical curriculum. By using students as teachers, a unique leaning environment is created that subjectively improves the knowledge of both the student teacher and the learner.

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