Student Perception About Peer-Assisted Learning Sessions in a Medical School in Nepal

Background: Peer-assisted learning has been informally used in medical schools in Nepal. The manuscript describes feedback from first year students about learning sessions conducted by third year students. Methods: Two third year medical students (BS, AKS) conducted interactive learning sessions for first year students during the last week of March and first two weeks of April 2011. The session for each subject was of 2 hours duration and the number of students was 25 for some sessions and 50 for others. The sessions concentrated on revising concepts of the module and preparing students to answer theory question papers. Student opinion was studied using a questionnaire. Results: Seventy-five of the 100 students (75%) completed the questionnaire. The common feedback obtained were the sessions concentrated on must know areas (36 respondents), the learning environment was friendly (21 respondents), and students learned how to answer exam questions (12 respondents). Conclusions: The feedback suggests that student perception of peer teaching was positive and more sessions can be considered in future. Further studies are required.