Objective: To assess the impact of peer-assisted learning (PAL) on students' proficiency in patient interviewing skills and to explore medical students' perception on peer tutors in educational setting.
Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was performed in the College of Medicine, Hawler Medical University, Erbil, Iraq between September 2021 and November 2021. The participants included second year medical students who were attending the Integrated Basic Sciences (IBS) module. The peer tutors were chosen from a group of sixth year medical students who had completed an intensive 18-hour communication skills course. The summative video assessment marks of study participants and their perceptions on the process were compared between the faculty-led group and the peer-assisted learning (PAL) group.
Results: Peer-assisted learning group (n = 83) had significantly higher mean (SD) scores compared to those in the faculty-led group (n = 92), [74.6 (8.1) vs 70.4 (7.1), P ˂ 0.001]. Encouraging feedback was received from students regarding the PAL sessions with most positive feedback being from ease in asking questions.
Conclusions: Peer-assisted learning improved students' performance in patient interviewing skills and fostered positive perceptions of the learning experience.