What is it about?
Many medical schools in the UK have a Peer Assisted Learning scheme (PAL) to support material taught in lectures. Although quite popular with medical students, how much potential is there for such schemes to expand within the medical school? I explore some of the strengths and limitations of PAL and how the available room for its growth may be smaller than people may think.
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Why is it important?
This highlights some systemic issues with PAL, such as the limitation that comes from medical students teaching and also the lack of sighted research in PAL sessions. However, it also highlights some benefits of PAL, such as student advice and student written exam questions. This perspective is for audiences who are interested in how medical students support each other in their studies. It also provided insight to an approach medical students may take to learn in effective ways.
Perspectives
As a medical student, I hope this article helps both my peers and also medical schools to realize the importance of PAL, but also its natural limitations. I hope it can allow readers to gain deeper insight to PAL and therefore better decide how it can be used in their own medical education and medical school.
Ishar (Alexi) Kalsi
King's College London
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The value of near-peer teaching in the medical curriculum: a medical student's perspective, Advances in Medical Education and Practice, April 2018, Dove Medical Press,
DOI: 10.2147/amep.s163977.
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