Exploring the Value of Hosting a Grassroots Neuroscience Workshop That Facilitates Near-Peer Engagement Between Medical Students and High School Students (Local Brain Bee Participants) in a Developing Country in the Caribbean.

Abstract

Objective This article explores the value of hosting a grassroots neuroscience workshop that facilitates near-peer engagement between year-one medical students and local Brain Bee finalists (high school students). Near-peer mentoring is a formal relationship in which more academically advanced students guide immediate junior students. We hypothesized that similar activities have teaching, learning, and psychosocial benefits for all andcan be easilyreplicated. Activity The Grenada National Brain Bee Challenge was launched in 2009 as a competition for high school students. Annually, there are at least 100high school students registering to participate in the national challenge. In 2018, a grassroots neuroscience symposium, a local initiative, was createdto prepare high school students who participated in the preliminary rounds for the final localand International Brain Bee competition. Traditionally, it is hosted annually by faculty at St. George's University School of Medicine (SOM). However, in 2022, the symposium was hosted by medical students. The symposium is designed as an eight-hour tutorial one-day session.The students rotate between facilitators as small groupteamsduring each teaching hour. There areicebreakers,content presentations, and neuroanatomy skills stations. The medical students demonstrate expertise inneuroscience contentand other aspects of professional competence. The activity was also designed to offer students of diversified backgrounds the opportunity to affect their educational pathways through role modeling, mirroring, and mentorship.Was this change beneficial to both sets of students (medical and high school)? Results and discussion We aim to determine the value of the near-peer relationship between the local 2022 Brain Bee finalists (high school students) (n=28)and university (medical) students (n=11). Participants were surveyed about their experience. Data were de-identified and grouped according to common themes. A thematic analysis was conducted on the data retrieved from the literature review. Data suggestthat both high school and university (medical) students report benefits after participating in near-peer engagement at a grassroots neuroscience symposium. In this teaching model, the medical students are the more experienced instructors and transfertheir knowledge and skills about the field to the high school students. The medical students have an opportunity to consolidate their personal learning and give back to the Grenadian community. While informal teaching occurs often, this type of near-peer engagement with students from the community helps medical students develop both personal and professional skills such as confidence, knowledge, and respect. This grassroots initiative is easily replicated in a medical curriculum. Themajor benefits experienced by the high school student participants (of varioussocioeconomic backgrounds) were access to educational resources. The symposium requires active engagement, fosters a sense of belonging, and promotes interest in pursuing careers in health, research, academia, and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Conclusion Participating high school students of various genders and socioeconomic backgroundsgained equal access toeducational resources andmay select careers in health-related sciences. Participating medical students developedknowledge and teaching skills and engaged in a service-learning opportunity.