Abstract
BackgroundStructured peer-led tutorial courses are widespread and indispensable teaching methods that relieve teaching staff and contribute to the development of students’ competencies. Nevertheless, despite high general stress levels in medical students and associated increases in psychopathology, specific knowledge of peer tutors’ additional burdens is very limited.MethodsSixty student near-peer tutors from two structured peer-teaching programmes volunteered to participate. On multiple occasions in three different course sessions, we assessed tutors’ subjective stress, affective state, heart rate variability, and salivary cortisol. Additionally, tutors named everyday and course-specific stressors, which were evaluated by means of content analyses.ResultsThe study participation rate was high (63% of all active tutors). The participating tutors are socially well adapted and resilient individuals. They report a variety of stressors such as time pressure, participant characteristics, teacher role demands, and study requirements, but nevertheless display only moderate psychological and physiological stress that decreases over sessions. Tutors’ negative affect in sessions is low; their positive affect is consistently high for senior as well as novice tutors. Tutors rate their courses’ quality as high and quickly recover after sessions.ConclusionsTutors successfully cope with teaching-associated and everyday life demands. The results corroborate the viability and success of current peer-teaching programmes from the tutors’ perspective. This study is the first to comprehensively quantify tutors’ stress and describe frequent stressors, thus contributing to the development of better peer teaching programmes and tutor qualification training.
Highlights
Structured peer-led tutorial courses are widespread and indispensable teaching methods that relieve teaching staff and contribute to the development of students’ competencies
Sample characteristics As multiple t-tests revealed that participant characteristics did not differ depending on course type (AaLplus and sonography), tutor experience, age, or gender, we aggregated descriptive data over these factors
Comparisons of participant characteristics with respective norm values indicate that tutors are mostly outgoing, secure, competent and conscientious individuals with a balanced lifestyle
Summary
Structured peer-led tutorial courses are widespread and indispensable teaching methods that relieve teaching staff and contribute to the development of students’ competencies. Hundertmark et al BMC Medical Education (2019) 19:95 their work, apart from mere financial compensation They usually undergo some form of selection or training process [17, 18] and gain communication, teaching, and clinical skills that can lead to improved grades, patient interaction, learning behaviour, self-reflection, and even personal resilience [19,20,21,22,23,24]. Despite the growing prevalence of structured peer-led tutorial courses, researchers have paid little attention to these additional challenges This is especially surprising against the background of medical students’ high stress levels [25,26,27]
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