Organising near-peer teaching programmes for clinical professionals

Editor's note: Near-peer teaching (NPT) and peer-assisted learning (PAL) are topics that have frequently featured in The Clinical Teacher and other education journals in the last few years. Such learning and teaching is now undertaken in many health professional courses. There is a growing body of literature that indicates there are benefits of NPT for learners, teachers and faculty. This Toolbox is a succinct and practical article that considers definitions, evidence and delivery of NPT that draws on the authors' own experiences in their clinical settings. They present a case study and recommendations for consideration prior to any programme of NPT and during delivery, as well as stressing the importance of evaluation and ensuring sustainability. There are many ways that NPT may be implemented in health professional education. Each institution and team of educators needs to consider what may work best for them. The suggestions presented here have helped the authors in their work in clinical education, and I think are certainly worth noting.