A new first-year course designed and taught by a senior medical student

Senior medical students have been utilized at some institutions in limited teaching roles for first-year medical students. The authors describe a pilot program in which a motivated senior medical student completely designed and taught an original course to a group of first-year students in academic year 2000-01. The 16-hour course was offered as a selective for first-year students. This course concentrated on clinically-focused topics, evidence-based medicine, and physical examination skills. Evaluations from the students in the course, as well as from a faculty advisor, were uniformly positive. This unique course filled an existing need in the first-year curriculum, and could be permanently integrated in various settings. This novel approach of a senior medical student's developing and teaching an entire first-year course benefited both the senior and first-year students and could be implemented at other institutions using similar methods or a number of suggested variations.