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Table 1 Participants’ responses to questions regarding their perceptions of their experiences that related to “Organisational support”

From: Peer tutoring in a medical school: perceptions of tutors and tutees

Organisational support ensures that the learning experience sits appropriately within the curriculum, with opportunities to participate in practice.

Tutee responses

Tutee input into the curriculum topics

“It was an advantage that the free form of not having anything really set in stone. If we need to practice our respiratory examination, can we do this next week, then we’d ask to do an ABGs next week. So it was just what we thought we needed to learn, we’d ask about and then we’d talk about other things, using their experience”.

Opportunities to see patients

“I loved going out to the wards to see patients…. to have two or three people in a group after the six made it a little bit more intimate and we actually got to do more hands on”.

“Having two tutors definitely maximized the number of sessions we did have”.

Tutors provided appropriate information and resources targeted at the tutees’ needs

“Our tutors gave us a lot of references and did a PowerPoint presentation and provided us with resources and then backup what they taught us, which was great. They went over everything that was exam relevant. ..they gave us summaries of OSCE stations”.

Additional monitoring and quality assurance and reward system required by Clinical School staff

“If they sign up, they should actually do it. You need to make sure they’re coming”.

“The teaching should be evaluated, and that can be part of the tutors’ portfolio. That might be an incentive and also provide quality control.”

“When they’re highly regarded as teachers, there should be some kind of a reference given or something like that”.

Tutor responses

Effectiveness of small group teaching

“With very small groups of two to three, it was different to groups of six people. They felt like they were getting a lot more, sort of one on one. Even if they went on the wards, they felt like they were given all the attention which was nice. Also, it didn’t feel awkward like a whole room of people standing around one patient”.

Creation of resources targeted at tutees' needs

“I created a shoulder exam sheet and did a couple of powerpoint slides. I used the ones out of the drop box because the intern had checked it”.

“I would screen shot something form Talley’s and use that as a talking point.”

Increased organisation and access to resources

“It would have been nice to have everything on the Dropbox because that was the original intention, is that if the tutor wrote up the summary then it was going to be posted out to the Dropbox so that all groups had access to it, but I don’t think that ended up happening”.