Opportunities for Peer Learning Within Clerkships

• In Event: 54.038 - Learning Through Same-Level Peers in Clinical Education

Abstract

Background: Clerkships are an integral part of pre-registration medical education. Also known as clinical placements, students are attached to clinical units within hospital or ambulatory settings, to experience and learn from patient care activities. Peer learning has the potential to improve educational experiences on clerkships, where both social and experiential learning theories may apply.7–9
Reviews of the literature have identified the benefits of peer learning in health professions education, including knowledge gain, development of students’ education skills, and increased confidence.10–13 However, these studies included near-peer learning, which can be difficult to coordinate in the clerkship setting. A review of same-level peer learning in clinical education identified a range of benefits for learners in developing generic, clinical and professional skills, in addition to benefits for patients and clinician educators.14 This presentation aims to identify, classify and describe the various opportunities for peer learning within clerkships and focuses on the “real world” considerations of opportunities for successful peer learning within clerkship environments.
Methods: An integrative review of empirical reports of same-level peer learning was undertaken to answer the question “What opportunities exist for successful peer learning in clerkships”? An updated search was run for Medline and PsycINFO using search terms identified by Tai et al .14 242 additional records from 2015 to 2016 were screened, resulting in 17 new papers in addition to the existing 42 previously identified. Data were extracted from the study on the setting, peer learning activity, and conditions for success.
Results: Peer learning was reported to occur in a wide range of settings, including paediatrics, family medicine, internal medicine, surgery, and psychiatry. Peer learning activities fell into four main groups. Facilitated discussion between peers occurred in ongoing sessions for the purposes of debriefing and reflecting on clerkship experiences. This could be achieved either in person, or through online means. Peer teaching occurred on a variety of clinical topics, as well as the meta-topic of how to best profit from clerkship experiences. Peer observation and feedback occurred both on specific, one-off occasions of clinical performance, and in longitudinal evaluations of professional behaviours. Role-play was used in a number of settings, where students played a patient or relative role for their peers to practice their clinical skills. Studies were successful in promoting learning during the clerkship, likely due to the care taken in planning and executing the peer learning intervention.
Discussion: This presentation will identify a range of opportunities for successful peer learning, occurring in a variety of clerkship settings. Within appropriate contexts, peer learning should be more frequently incorporated into clerkship activities.

Author

• Joanna Hong-Meng Tai, Deakin University