Evaluation of Online Near-Peer Teaching for Penultimate-Year Objective Structured Clinical Examinations in the COVID-19 Era: Longitudinal Study

Should Virtual Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) Teaching Replace or Complement Face-to-Face Teaching in the Post-COVID-19 Educational Environment: An Evaluation of an Innovative National COVID-19 Teaching Programme

Background The COVID-19 pandemic brought about drastic changes to medical education and examinations, with a shift to online lectures and webinars. Additionally, social restrictions in the United Kingdom (UK) inhibited students' ability to practice for objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) with their peers. Methods The Virtual OSCE buddy scheme (VOBS) provided a means to practice OSCE skills virtually by linking groups of 2-6 final-year medical students with a junior doctor who had recently passed their exams. Sessions were held virtually, tailored to the needs of each group, in a 3-month period prior to examinations. The scheme ran across two examination periods, 2020/21 and 2021/22, including a total of 13 universities throughout the UK. Results In 2020/21, 96% (n=227) of students described improved confidence in OSCE scenarios. Furthermore, 90% (n=213) reported improvement in communication, 89% (n=211) in diagnosis and clinical reasoning and 86% (n=203) in history-taking skills. Examination and procedural skills proved more challenging to practice virtually, with improvement reported by 31% (n=73) and 15% (n=36) of students, respectively. Ninety-three per cent (n=58) of buddies reported improved lesson planning abilities and 90% (n=57) felt more confident in their teaching. In 2021/22, 90% (n=133) of students felt more prepared for their OSCE. In key skills, improvement was reported by 87% (n=128) in communication, 84% (n=124) in diagnosis and clinical reasoning and 83% (n=123) in history-taking. In this cohort, 40% (n=59) reported improvement in examination skills and 24% (n=36) in procedural skills. Ninety per cent (n=83) of buddies reported an improvement in teaching skills, with 93% (n=85) increasing their confidence to teach. Conclusion VOBS demonstrates the benefits to students and teachers of near-peer OSCE teaching. Given the virtual nature, the main drawback is the inability to practice hands-on examination and procedural skills. This scheme provides insight to educators planning virtual teaching programmes in the future. With the evolution of technology, virtual examination and procedure practice may be possible in the near future. VOBS would suggest that currently, virtual OSCE teaching should be used to complement face-to-face teaching.

Exploring the Educational Value of Popular Culture in Web-Based Medical Education: Pre-Post Study on Teaching Jaundice Using "The Simpsons"

BACKGROUND

The potential of popular culture as a tool for knowledge delivery and enhancing engagement in education is promising but not extensively studied. Furthermore, concerns exist regarding learning fatigue due to increased reliance on videoconferencing platforms following the COVID-19 pandemic. To ensure effective web-based teaching sessions that maintain attention spans and enhance understanding, innovative solutions are necessary.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to evaluate the use of specific popular culture case studies to enhance student engagement in a web-based near-peer teaching session.

METHODS

We delivered a web-based teaching session to undergraduate medical students in the United Kingdom. The session included clinical vignettes and single-best-answer questions using characters from "The Simpsons" television show as patient analogies for various causes of jaundice. A pre-post survey, employing a 7-point Likert scale, was distributed to gather data from participants.

RESULTS

A total of 53 survey responses were collected. Participants reported significantly improved understanding of jaundice after the session compared to before the session (median 6, IQR 5-6 vs median 4, IQR 3-4.5; P<.001). The majority of participants agreed that the inclusion of "The Simpsons" characters enhanced their knowledge and made the teaching session more memorable and engaging (memorability: median 6, IQR 5-7; engagement: median 6, IQR 5-7).

CONCLUSIONS

When appropriately integrated, popular culture can effectively engage students and improve self-perceived knowledge retention. "The Simpsons" characters can be used pedagogically and professionally as patient analogies to deliver teaching on the topic of jaundice.

Peer Teaching in Undergraduate Medical Education: What are the Learning Outputs for the Student-Teachers? A Systematic Review

Introduction

To achieve quality in medical education, peer teaching, understood as students taking on roles as educators for peers, is frequently used as a teaching intervention. While the benefits of peer teaching for learners and faculty are described in detail in the literature, less attention is given to the learning outputs for the student-teachers. This systematic review focuses on the learning outputs for medical undergraduates acting as student-teachers in the last decade (2012-2022).

Aim

Our aim is to describe what learning outputs student-teachers have from peer teaching, and map what research methods are used to assess the outputs. We defined learning outputs in a broad sense, including all types of learning experiences, intended and non-intended, associated with being a peer teacher.

Methods

A literature search was conducted in four electronic databases. Title, abstract and full text were screened by 8 independent reviewers and selection was based on predefined eligibility criteria. We excluded papers not describing structured peer teaching interventions with student-teachers in a formalized role. From the included articles we extracted information about the learning outputs of being a student-teacher as medical undergraduate.

Results

From 668 potential titles, 100 were obtained as full-texts, and 45 selected after close examination, group deliberation, updated search and quality assessment using MERSQI score (average score 10/18). Most articles reported learning outputs using mixed methods (67%). Student-teachers reported an increase in subject-specific learning (62%), pedagogical knowledge and skills (49%), personal outputs (31%) and generic skills (38%). Most articles reported outputs using self-reported data (91%).

Conclusion

Although there are few studies that systematically investigate student-teachers learning outputs, evidence suggests that peer teaching offers learning outputs for the student-teachers and helps them become better physicians. Further research is needed to enhance learning outputs for student-teachers and systematically investigate student-teachers' learning outputs and its impact on student-teachers.

Psychological need fulfillment in virtual teaching: insights of residents and faculty

Objective

To explore benefits and challenges experienced by residents and faculty when teaching in virtual settings.

Methods

This was a qualitative descriptive study employing one-on-one semi-structured interviews with 10 residents and 12 faculty in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Alberta, Canada, from May 2021 to May 2022. Participants were recruited via social media, resident and department events and email lists. Interview transcripts were analyzed descriptively and thematically employing the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) framework to map the identified benefits and challenges as facilitators and barriers to fulfilling teacher's basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness in virtual settings.

Results

Resident and faculty participants used virtual technology not only to deliver education, but also leveraged various platform features to support their needs in virtual settings. The emerging themes within benefits and challenges of virtual teaching were amenable to mapping onto three basic psychological needs of the SDT framework - autonomy (e.g., increased accessibility; lack of control over teaching environment), competence (e.g., increased self-confidence; technological limitations hindering skill development), and relatedness (e.g., timely exchange of information; difficulty with professional identity formation).

Conclusions

Despite the inherent challenges, teaching in virtual settings can support teachers' psychological needs. Recommendations for the future delivery and facilitation of virtual learning include: giving high priority to engagement and active participation; nurturing autonomy and greater individual responsibility for learning; and creating an environment of emotional support. The SDT-informed strategies shown to be effective in in-person teaching need to be examined for their applicability in virtual settings.

Payment with knowledge: A method for a training of anatomy near-peer teachers and formation of future anatomists

Near-peer teaching has been widely implemented in medical schools and the benefits for the near-peer teachers (NPTs), the students, and the institution have been well documented. However, NPT training methods and perceptions of such have been limited. A four-year clinical anatomy and surgical training program was established (est. 2019) as part of the continuous training timeline for NPTs (n > 60 total) formation at the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, in Mexico. The program provides various training courses for the NPTs according to their hierarchy, including teaching skills, professional development, psychosocial aspects, and career objectives. A "Clinical Anatomy and Surgical Training Diploma" was planned with 12 modules to aid in developing these abilities, along with a higher understanding of clinical anatomy shared by expert clinical specialists, and diverse clinical and surgical skills such as suturing, catheterization, and basic surgical procedures. The program has a completion rate of approximately 15 NPTs/year. All, while creating an environment with a sense of belonging, and facilitating mentorship between fellow NPTs and educators. Near-peer teachers develop leadership, communication, and teaching skills. The program has provided a constant source of anatomy educators, avoiding any shortage.