Virtual Peer Teaching During the COVID-19 Pandemic
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INNOVATION
Virtual Peer Teaching During the COVID-19 Pandemic Lily Jeong 1 & Zachary Smith 1 & August Longino 1 & Susan E. Merel 2 & Karen McDonough 2
# International Association of Medical Science Educators 2020
Abstract Virtual peer teaching can be part of the solution to challenges in medical education during the pandemic. We developed an online clinician teacher elective, implemented virtual peer teaching throughout our curriculum, and believe it benefits students, peer teachers, and faculty. We plan to continue virtual peer teaching beyond the pandemic. Keywords Online education . Peer teaching . Clinical skills education
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted medical education across the world [1]. Teaching has quickly transitioned from in-person to online, and clerkship students who have been removed from clinical rotations are seeking other ways to contribute. For many clinicians, increased patient care demands have limited the time available for teaching. At the University of Washington School of Medicine, virtual peer teaching—students teaching students via videoconference— has helped us meet these educational challenges and shows promise for use beyond the pandemic. As the pandemic started, we recognized several potential benefits of virtual peer teaching. Studies of in-person medical school peer teaching have shown similar performance for learners taught by faculty instructors and those taught by fellow students [2]. Peer teachers would be more available than faculty to facilitate the new problem-based online sessions that replaced some clinical activities. Adding more online small group leaders would allow a lower student-to-teacher ratio and more interaction. Teaching could be a worthwhile experience for students sidelined from clinical rotations. Peer teaching builds teaching and leadership skills in the instructor and can also lead to a better understanding of the subject matter being taught [3].
* Karen McDonough [email protected] 1
University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA
2
Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
We initially recruited volunteers, and then quickly developed an online credit-bearing clinician educator elective (Table 1). In interactive online didactics, faculty teach key skills such as small group facilitation, teaching scripts, and feedback. Participants practice using these skills in course activities, as well as in basic science and clinical skills small groups. They are observed by and receive feedback from other peer teachers and reflect on their experience and goals weekly. Fourteen percent of third and fourth year students have joined our virtual peer teacher elective and are teaching medical students at all levels across our six regional campuses. Early, informal feedback has been positive. Videoconference technology has allowed students to easily connect across campuses, building community in a difficult time. Peer teachers have found it easy to participate in both didactic sessions
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