Medical education
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Medical student electives are memorable learning experiences, of which approximately 40% are spent in developing countries. Students often have laudable motivation but are rarely helped to learn most effectively or contribute meaningfully whilst away. Each year an estimated 350 years of elective time is spent in developing countries (by students from the UK alone), which represents substantial opportunity. ⋯ Electives are a highlight of clinical training but probably often represent missed opportunities. There are both educational and moral reasons for seeking more considered approaches to reduce the 'medical tourism' that can result from the current largely ad hoc arrangements.
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The lack of published studies into effective skills teaching in clinical skills centres inspired this study of student views of the teaching behaviours of skills teachers. ⋯ The teaching skills and behaviours that most facilitate student acquisition of physical examination skills are interpersonal and communication skills, followed by a number of didactic interventions, embedded in several preconditions. Findings related to interpersonal and communication skills are comparable with findings pertaining to the teaching roles of tutors and clinical teachers; however, the didactic skills merit separate attention as teaching skills for use in skills laboratories. The results of this study should be complemented by a study performed in a larger population and a study exploring teachers' views.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Peer-assisted versus faculty staff-led skills laboratory training: a randomised controlled trial.
Although peer-assisted learning (PAL) is widely employed throughout medical education, its effectiveness for training in technical procedures in skills laboratories has been subject to little systematic investigation. We conducted a prospective, randomised trial to evaluate the hypotheses that PAL is effective in technical skills training in a skills laboratory setting, and PAL is as effective as faculty staff-led training. ⋯ Peer-assisted learning is a successful method for learning technical procedures in a skills laboratory setting and can be just as effective as the training provided by experienced faculty staff.