OBJECTIVES: Although peer-assisted learning (PAL) is widely employed throughout medical education, its effectiveness for training in technical procedures in skills laboratories has been subject to little systematic investigation. We conducted a prospective, randomised trial to evaluate the hypotheses that PAL is effective in technical skills training in a skills laboratory setting, and PAL is as effective as faculty staff-led training. METHODS:Volunteer Year 3 medical students were randomly assigned to one of three groups. Two of these received regular skills training from either cross-year peer tutors or experienced faculty staff. Following training, both groups were assessed using an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) (three stations assessing various injection techniques) which was video-recorded. Two independent video assessors scored the OSCEs using binary checklists and global ranking forms. A third student group was assessed prior to training and served as a control group. RESULTS: A total of 89 students (mean age 23.0 +/- 0.2 years; 41 male, 48 female) agreed to participate in the trial. Confounding variables including prior training as a paramedic or previous experience in performing the technical procedures did not significantly differ between the three study groups. In the OSCE, PAL (58.1 +/- 1 binary points, 4.9 +/- 0.1 global ranking points) and faculty-led groups (58.3 +/- 1 binary points, 4.7 +/- 0.1 global ranking points) scored significantly higher than the control group (33.3 +/- 1 binary points, 2.7 +/- 0.1 global ranking points; all P < 0.0001). There was no significant difference between the PAL and faculty-led groups (P = 0.92 for binary checklists, P = 0.11 for global rankings). CONCLUSIONS:Peer-assisted learning is a successful method for learning technical procedures in a skills laboratory setting and can be just as effective as the training provided by experienced faculty staff.
RCT Entities:
OBJECTIVES: Although peer-assisted learning (PAL) is widely employed throughout medical education, its effectiveness for training in technical procedures in skills laboratories has been subject to little systematic investigation. We conducted a prospective, randomised trial to evaluate the hypotheses that PAL is effective in technical skills training in a skills laboratory setting, and PAL is as effective as faculty staff-led training. METHODS: Volunteer Year 3 medical students were randomly assigned to one of three groups. Two of these received regular skills training from either cross-year peer tutors or experienced faculty staff. Following training, both groups were assessed using an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) (three stations assessing various injection techniques) which was video-recorded. Two independent video assessors scored the OSCEs using binary checklists and global ranking forms. A third student group was assessed prior to training and served as a control group. RESULTS: A total of 89 students (mean age 23.0 +/- 0.2 years; 41 male, 48 female) agreed to participate in the trial. Confounding variables including prior training as a paramedic or previous experience in performing the technical procedures did not significantly differ between the three study groups. In the OSCE, PAL (58.1 +/- 1 binary points, 4.9 +/- 0.1 global ranking points) and faculty-led groups (58.3 +/- 1 binary points, 4.7 +/- 0.1 global ranking points) scored significantly higher than the control group (33.3 +/- 1 binary points, 2.7 +/- 0.1 global ranking points; all P < 0.0001). There was no significant difference between the PAL and faculty-led groups (P = 0.92 for binary checklists, P = 0.11 for global rankings). CONCLUSIONS: Peer-assisted learning is a successful method for learning technical procedures in a skills laboratory setting and can be just as effective as the training provided by experienced faculty staff.
Authors: Matthias Knobe; Malte Holschen; Saskia Catharina Mooij; Richard Martin Sellei; Ralf Münker; Pia Antony; Roman Pfeifer; Wolf Drescher; Hans-Christoph Pape Journal: Eur Spine J Date: 2012-01-06 Impact factor: 3.134
Authors: Cassian Cremerius; Gertraud Gradl-Dietsch; Frank J P Beeres; Björn -Christian Link; Lea Hitpaß; Sven Nebelung; Klemens Horst; Christian David Weber; Carl Neuerburg; Daphne Eschbach; Christopher Bliemel; Matthias Knobe Journal: Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg Date: 2020-01-10 Impact factor: 3.693
Authors: Behrad Y Milani; Mercede Majdi; Wesley Green; Amir Mehralian; Majid Moarefi; Freddie S Oh; Janet M Riddle; Ali R Djalilian Journal: Ophthalmology Date: 2012-12-12 Impact factor: 12.079
Authors: Andreas Fichtner; Elke Haupt; Tobias Karwath; Katharina Wullenk; Christoph Pöhlmann; Lutz Jatzwauk Journal: GMS Z Med Ausbild Date: 2013-05-15