Students’ Attitudes towards Extracurricular Clinical Skills Peer Teaching Sessions

Background: Near-peer teaching, which involves a more experienced student teaching a group of less experienced students within the same course, has commonly been used in educational settings. Fifth-year medical students at The University of Western Australia offered extracurricular clinical skills sessions to third-year medical students. Aim: The aims of the study were to: 1) enumerate third-year students’ attendance at sessions and reasons for attending / not attending; 2) determine the usefulness of clinical skills topics; and 3) evaluate students’ perceptions of the fifth-year tutors. Method: Third-year students completed an anonymous survey pertaining to extracurricular clinical skills sessions. Results: Surveys were completed by 160 students of which 60% had attended at least one session. The most common reason for attending sessions was that they provided extra practice whereas those not attending most commonly stated that formal sessions were sufficient. All clinical skills topics and tutors were rated favorably. Conclusions: Whilst many students valued the need for clinical skills practice beyond formal class time, some students have yet to appreciate this. Extracurricular clinical skills sessions held by more advanced students were perceived positively irrespective of the topic taught. Thus near peer teaching sessions should be adopted by all medical schools. © 2013, Springer International Publishing.