Learning Outputs for Peer Teachers in Undergraduate Medical Education

Peer teaching is a commonly employed educational approach in medical education, providing valuable learning opportunities for both peer teachers and learners. While it is known to enhance subject knowledge for those in teaching roles, what broader learning outcomes can be achieved and the conditions enabling these outcomes remain less understood. Hence, our aim was to explore the learning outcomes experienced by peer teachers in undergraduate medical education, as well as to identify the prerequisites that facilitate these outcomes. Whereas most studies on peer teaching have focused on outcomes from evaluations of individual, newly implemented programs, this study examines peer teaching experiences from a variety of programs and contexts. To achieve a broader dataset, peer teachers (n=34) at four Scandinavian medical schools were recruited to participate in focus groups discussing their experience with peer teaching and what they had learned. Transcripts were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. The results demonstrate that peer teachers developed an understanding of the teacher's role as facilitators of learning, recognized the limits of their own knowledge, learned to adapt their teaching to meet learners' needs, and recognized the importance of psychological safety for learning. These learning outputs were facilitated by accessible and attractive teaching opportunities, a sense of responsibility and agency, sufficient preparation, and access to support during the teaching process. Overall, being a peer teacher helps medical students gain competencies that are useful in their future careers. Program leaders should design peer teaching opportunities that facilitate peer teachers' learning.