Near-peer bedside clinical teaching: example of a successful programme

BACKGROUND:Traditionally, the formalised teaching of medical students has begun at senior trainee level, with teaching from junior trainees being very limited and informal. A pilot programme was set up in a large university teaching hospital for interns to provide structured bedside clinical teaching to final-year medical students as an adjunct to their formal teaching. Derived from the success of this, a similar programme was run the following year.METHODS:Feedback from the pilot programme and its successor was evaluated using a five-point Likert scale, and open illustrative comments were also collected.RESULTS:There was a highly positive response to the initial programme, with final-year students being very positive about participating as teachers the following year. Some proceeded to run the programme the following year, providing feedback to suggest improvements on the pilot programme.DISCUSSION:Junior trainees can organise and provide an additional option to traditional formal undergraduate clinical bedside teaching, which is well received by students. It also provides a forum through which trainees can hone teaching methods and improve clinical skills. A programme was set up for interns to provide structured bedside clinical teaching to final-year medical students.