[Breaking new ground in teaching medical students emergency medicine. Evaluation of a multi-centre student-guided teaching concept].

BACKGROUND: Medical students who want to apply for preliminary medical examinations in Germany have to prove that they have attended a first-aid course. However, lay courses are often not up to the standards and needs that medical students require. As a result since 1996 members of the task group "AGEHMED", all of whom are medical students, have been teaching their peers in target groups orientated first aid and emergency techniques at medical school. The task group is (currently) active with 190 students at 6 German medical schools. All students, even those without any previous knowledge, can participate in emergency medicine education of their peers following a supervised 5-step model.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine the results of a questionnaire that was used for evaluation of peer-guided first-aid courses at medical schools over the last 7 years and to assess its validity and reliability.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: From 2000 to 2007 59 first-aid courses with 4,941 medical students were evaluated. After carrying out descriptive analyses the factorial validity and reliability (Cronbach's alpha) of the questionnaire were assessed. The inter-scale correlation of the significant factors was also analysed.
RESULTS: The courses were continuously well rated. The amount of variance explained by the factors"quality of the course","learning success","comparison to other university courses","overall satisfaction" and"scheduling of the course" was 68%. The mean inter-scale correlation was r=0.23 and Cronbach's alpha was between 0.62 and 0.81.
CONCLUSIONS: The peer-guided courses have been continually well received by the course participants over the last 7 years. The questionnaire shows sufficient validity and reliability. Based on these results, it can be presumed that this approach can be more widely put into practice in the education of medical students.