Near-Peer Perspectives on a Voluntary Peer Teaching Program: Challenges and Solutions.

This mixed-methods study explores the experiences and perceptions of medical students participating in a near-peer tutoring (NPT) program. It aims to understand how the program impacts their teaching and learning skills, identify any challenges they face, and gather suggestions for improvement. The study was conducted at a large midwestern university with 92 second-year medical students (M2) students enrolled in a 12-month near-Peer Tutoring (NPT) program. Data were collected through a survey and a focus group interview with subsets of 55 (RR = 60%) and 8 participants, respectively. A thematic analysis approach was used to analyze the data. Qualitative analyses of the survey and focus group findings revealed seven main themes. The first two themes highlight the programs' strengths: the opportunity to reinforce their own learning and to teach across diverse contexts. Five themes address main challenges in the program: (1) tutors received inadequate feedback, (2) the didactic teaching seminars were unhelpful, (3) mismatch between tutor expertise and junior students' needs, (4) need for more faculty guidance, and (5) unclear program expectations. In addition to these main challenges, four additional challenges and proposed solutions emerged from the focus group interview: (1) the lack of program visibility, (2) junior students are not aware of effective study strategies, (3) junior students seek more informal tutoring opportunities, and (4) the lack of formal recognition for outstanding tutors. Tutors' proposed solutions to these challenges include (1) increased marketing of the near-peer tutoring (NPT) program through partnerships with student organizations; (2) holding a tutor-led "How to Study" orientation; (3) implement regular virtual office hours; and (4) implement a nomination system to recognize outstanding tutors. Despite these challenges, tutors generally viewed the program positively, with 71% agreeing that it boosted their teaching confidence and 66% noting an improvement in teaching skills. Fifty-seven percent of tutors reported that the program helped them regulate their own learning, and 53% noted an improvement in their feedback skills. The study highlights the benefits of the near-peer tutoring (NPT) program in improving tutors' teaching and learning skills. However, it also emphasizes the need for more hands-on training, increased faculty involvement, systematic feedback mechanisms, and better marketing of tutoring opportunities. Recommendations include holding monthly check-ins with faculty, establishing a tutor database, partnering with student organizations, and adopting a Community of Practice (CoP) model based on situated learning theory to improve training and support. Our study highlights the existing issues and positions itself as a catalyst for meaningful, tutor-informed changes in medical education.