Teaching faculty development. Teacher training to support the delivery of competent peer-assisted learning: The Derry MEDUCATION course (DMC)

Oral Presentation 6
Paul Baylis, Sandy Nelson, Ursula Heaney, Alison Warke, Sinead Doherty,

Teaching faculty development. Teacher training to support the delivery of competent peer assisted learning: THE DERRY MEDUCATION COURSE (DMC)

Introduction
Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) is an evidence based model of delivering medical education at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels whereby medical students and junior doctors lead in the teaching and learning of their peers. At MedEdWest, the medical education department of the WHSCT, we have been delivering PAL since 2014. Key to our PAL programs are that fledgling educators are equipped with effective teaching skills. Accordingly we established the Derry Meducation Course (DMC), a concise “Teach-the-Teacher” programme to upskill our prospective student and junior doctor educators. The aims of the DMC are to ensure high standards of educational experience, especially in simulation, and to provide a consistent approach to teaching. The purpose of this paper is to “show and tell” our work in developing peer delivered medical education across the WHSCT.

Description
Our original DMC was delivered via face to face teaching sessions. The Covid-19 pandemic forced us to modify how we delivered our course. We implemented a blended learning approach which included online learning, small group work and practical teaching sessions. We cover the following topics.

• Good Clinical Teaching
• Leadership Skills
• Supervision and Mentoring
• Developing The Clinical Examiner
• How To Run A Simulation And Debrief

All of the sessions are delivered in the month of August. In years 2021/22 and 2022/23 we ran evaluation projects. Both Pre and Post course evaluation questionnaires were completed. They captured both quantitative and qualitative feedback about the course, including Likert scales and free text responses. Questions explore participant’s satisfaction with the course and their confidence to embark on their roles as PAL clinical tutors. The Results demonstrated that educators rated the DMC highly. They reported a significant improvement in their confidence in delivering PAL in terms of clinical supervision, Simulation based medical education and in their lecturing skills.

Discussion
There are many advantages of PAL, both for teachers and learners. PAL improves the volume of teaching that can be sustainably delivered in our DHG plus it enthuses and enables the next generation of medical educators at an early stage of their career journeys.

Conclusion
MedEdWest’s PAL teacher training course is well received by participants and improves their confidence to commence their duties as peer educators.