Establishment of a Peer Teaching Assistant Program for Preclinical Human Gross Anatomy Curricula

An increasing number of medical institutions across the USA are now utilizing a prosection-based approach to teach human anatomy. This practice enables students to make use of specimens on a more flexible schedule, which has sparked demand for additional practice identifying structures and relating concepts. In order to accommodate this demand, we have developed an anatomy teaching assistant (TA) program in which second-year medical students (MS2s) act as tutors for their first-year peers (MS1s). MS2s are selected as TAs on the basis of prior anatomy examination performance, teaching experience, and other criteria. At least once per week, for 2 h, they provide focused review of human anatomy to MS1 peers. Anatomy faculty and staff provide core instruction and support throughout. The program has received overwhelmingly positive evaluations and comments from students. MS1 students, using a modified Likert scale, reported that multiple specific techniques used by TAs were helpful. MS1s also reported overall improvement in their confidence as a result of the sessions. Correlation analyses demonstrated positive associations between utility reported by a given student and the number of sessions that student attended. MS2s also reported improved test and clinical performance as a result of the program. Peer tutoring programs enhance learning across multiple domains in medical education, including gross anatomy. Strategies for implementation of such a program are presented here. It is our belief that other institutions could benefit from establishment of analogous programs. © 2018, International Association of Medical Science Educators.