Peer education for medical students on health promotion and clinical risk management

• Main Authors: Laura Brunelli, Annarita Tullio, Giuseppe Perri, Lucia Lesa, Lucrezia Grillone, Giulio Menegazzi, Corrado Pipan, Francesca Valent, Silvio Brusaferro, Maria Parpinel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2020-01-01
• Series: Journal of Education and Health Promotion
• Subjects: education; health promotion; learning; medical students; peer group; risk management
• Online Access: http://www.jehp.net/article.asp?issn=2277-9531;year=2020;volume=9;issue=1;spage=51;epage=51;aulast=Brunelli

CONTEXT: Health promotion (HP) and clinical risk management (CRM) topics are seldom discussed during medical school lessons. Peer-assisted learning (PAL) has long occurred informally in medical education, and interest in this method has recently grown, as it is considered a valuable technique for both tutors and tutees. AIMS: The aim was to evaluate the impact of HP and CRM PAL intervention on medical students' (tutees) knowledge level. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A PAL intervention has been implemented at Udine University medical school during 2017. It was composed of lectures and practical activities conducted by ten near-peer tutors. METHODS: The effectiveness has been evaluated by giving tutees: (1) a knowledge multiple-choice questionnaire, before and after the intervention; (2) a satisfaction questionnaire; and evaluating (3) tutees' group assignments. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: We performed descriptive analysis; then McNemar, Wilcoxon signed rank, Wilcoxon Mann–Whitney, and t-tests were applied. RESULTS: The number of students addressed by PAL intervention was 62. Difference in total correct answers among pre- and post-intervention questionnaires showed a statistically significant improvement (P < 0.0001), both when analyzing it globally and by area (HP/CRM). Students' satisfaction for CRM was greater than for HP area (P = 0.0041). CONCLUSIONS: This educational intervention based on PAL showed its effectiveness producing a statistically significant improvement in students' knowledge. Our findings confirm that PAL could be a feasible method for HP and CRM topics.