Students as peer tutors and mentors

Time is limited and there are many benefits, for students and their teachers, when learners become more deeply involved in the education and support of their peers. We describe a training programme that helped students develop the skills and insight they need to fulfill these roles. In the three-day workshop we modeled a coherent educational approach. We used a wide variety of instructional methods, including large and small group activities as well as an Objective Structured Teaching Exercise (OSTE). At the end of the workshop each participant had a profound understanding of the role and potential of a mentor and felt more comfortable about extending and developing their teaching. In health professions education in particular the role of the mentor is to help students cross barriers and boundaries to become new members of their chosen profession. 14.02.2014 | David Taylor (Liverpool), Elizabeth K. Kachur (New York), Angelika Hofhansl & Richard März (Vienna