Benefits of a near-peer program from the tutors’ perspective: a survey of Australian junior doctors in a regional teaching program

• Published in: BMC medical education Vol. 25; no. 1; pp. 318 - 9
• Main Authors: Medveczky, David, Mitchell, Alicia, Leopardi, Eleonora, Dawson, Amanda
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London BioMed Central 27.02.2025; BioMed Central Ltd; BMC
• Subjects: Adult; Attitude of Health Personnel; Australia; Australians; Beliefs, opinions and attitudes; Clinical Competence; College Attendance; Communication Skills; Data Analysis; Education; Education, Medical, Undergraduate - methods; Educational Methods; Educational Principles; Educational Resources; Educational Strategies; Employees; Feedback (Response); Female; Hospitals, Teaching; Humans; Interns (Medicine); Job Satisfaction; Junior doctor; Learner Engagement; Male; Medical care; Medical Education; Medical Staff, Hospital - education; Medical Staff, Hospital - psychology; Medical students; Near-peer teaching; Peer Group; Peer Teaching; Peer tutoring; Peer-group tutoring of students; Physicians; Polls & surveys; Public opinion; Quality management; Residents (Medicine); Response rates; Self Management; Skills; Social networks; Stress; Students, Medical - psychology; Surveys; Surveys and Questionnaires; Teaching; Teaching Experience; Teaching Methods; Teaching program; Teaching Skills; Teaching Styles; Theory of Medicine/Bioethics; Time management; Trainees; Training; Tutor perspective; Tutors; Work environment; Australia; Tutor perspective; Junior doctor; Near-peer teaching; Teaching program
• ISSN: 1472-6920; 1472-6920
• DOI: 10.1186/s12909-025-06762-2

Background Near-peer teaching has been shown to provide diverse benefits for both tutees and tutors in senior medical student and junior trainee settings. However, junior trainees may face more obstacles in teaching including competing clinical priorities and time management. We sought to investigate the challenges and benefits of engaging in near-peer teaching for junior trainees within our local context. Our Near-Peer Medical Teaching (NPMT) teaching program is designed and facilitated by junior doctors for medical students at the Central Coast Clinical School (University of Newcastle) of the Joint Medical Program. Methods Current and past NPMT tutors participated in an online survey from October 2022 to April 2023. Tutors were asked about feasibility of teaching within a work environment, perceived benefits from their experience and attitudes towards medical education. Results Teaching experience appears to be influenced by competing clinical priorities and convenience of session times, but it does not appear to exert considerable stress on tutors likely due to self-selection of tutors with prior enjoyable teaching experience. Furthermore, this study indicates that junior doctors derived enjoyment and developed clinical skills and professional qualities, which are important factors in increasing job satisfaction and ameliorating burn-out in this cohort. Conclusions Junior doctors appear to benefit from engaging in near-peer programs in the Australian teaching hospital setting. Further research should include qualitative methodologies to explore the perspectives of Australian junior doctors’ more deeply.