Peer Assisted Learning in Medical Institutes

Abstract

Objectives: To assess the effectiveness of peer-assisted learning (PAL) among undergraduate medical students. Methodology: We conducted a systematic review according to the PRISMA guidelines. Data were collected from PubMed, PakMediNet, and Science direct from September 2022 to October 2022. From 1911 articles in search result, 890 were initially selected. They were then subjected to inclusion exclusion criteria and then full text screening. After these, a total of 16 articles were finalized from which data extraction was done. Original articles, cross-sectional studies and randomized controlled trials published between 2018 to 2022 that assessed the effectiveness of peer-assisted learning (PAL) among undergraduate students were included. All non-English articles were excluded. Commentaries, personal opinions and conference proceedings were also excluded. Results: Sixteen studies were eligible for inclusion and among them fourteen studies (87.5 %) found to have sufficient and complete data to enable systematic review. Nine of these studies (64%) showed a significant improvement in the examination scores and skills. Four (28.5%) of these studies indicated an increased level of motivation and confidence in the practical field. Out of all these there only one study which showed no significant difference between the PAL group and control group. Conclusion: Peer-assisted learning has been shown to be effective in improving the knowledge and to some extent academic performance of medical students. However, adaptation of this method as an institutional tool will requires long-term controlled studies to solidify the stance. Limitations: Data collection in this study yielded a small sample size (n=16). The results of this study cannot be generalized to all students since the sample had medical students only. Comparison with expert-assisted learning (EAL) was not present in all studies.