Outcomes of Using Peer‐Mentors and Bi‐Directional Development of CanMEDS Core Competencies at a Distributed Medical Education Site
Authors: Pignanelli Michael T , Williams Jonathan , Hillman Christopher , Mekhaiel Sandra , Farias Anna 
Published: November 2023

INTRODUCTION

Due to the growing portfolio of skills needed to succeed as doctors, time and resources allocated by medical schools in Canada to teach anatomy have been greatly reduced and redirected towards other topics. Operating a distributed education campus requires even greater austerity and has the potential to hinder learner acquisition of key medical competencies. Studies in the past have looked at using peer approaches to deal with similar problems in medical education in the anatomy lab. Near peer‐mentoring (NPM), defined as the guidance of less experienced colleagues by colleagues with more experience, was implemented at the distributed education branch of the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry in Windsor, Ontario. This paper explores how NPM impacts peer learning and core medical competencies in both learners and teaching assistants (TAs). Some of the CanMED core competencies explored in this study are Medical Expert, Communicators, Collaborators, Leaders, Scholars and Professionals.

METHODS

Second year medical students volunteered to be TAs for anatomy labs. TAs were responsible for providing feedback on lesson plans, guiding students through lab dissections and answering questions on content. Implementing near‐peer TAs improved teacher to learner ratio to a high degree. Four near‐peer TAs, provided reflections on acquisition of CanMEDs medical competencies through NPM. TA involvement varied depending on the demands of the 1st year curriculum, ranging from 2–8 hours per week during teaching sessions and 1–2 hours of preparation time per lab, per TA. An initial survey was administered to student learners to qualitatively evaluate their current experience in the anatomy lab. A follow‐up survey will be distributed at the end of the final anatomy session. Finally, the faculty anatomist provided a reflection on how the near‐peer mentors helped deliver the anatomy instruction at the distributed education site.

RESULTS

Twenty‐six learners of thirty‐eight first year learners completed the initial survey. On average, the learners indicated that Medical Expert was their most improved competency during anatomy labs. Learners felt they improved the least on the Leadership competency during anatomy labs. When evaluating TAs, learners ranked the Communicator and Professional competencies the highest.

TAs found the near‐peer program to be a meaningful opportunity to integrate and apply multiple competencies at once. Upon reflection, TAs thought that the Medical Expert, Communicator and Leader competencies were most used. In order to improve delivery of anatomy labs in the future, TAs thought more time should be dedicated to understanding the details in delivering the lab session.

The near‐peer TA program was felt to improve access to help in learner's critical thinking skills. Further, faculty noted TA development of professional skills including leadership, communication and being collaborators.

CONCLUSIONS

Teaching Assistants had a positive overall impact on learners experience in anatomy lab. TAs themselves felt near‐peer mentoring to be an emotionally impactful opportunity to practice integrating the CanMed core competencies such as medical expertise, communication and leadership.