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Consumers as tutors - legitimate teachers?
1Medical Education Unit, Medical School Australian National University, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. cathy.owen@anu.edu.au
BMC Medical Education
|September 21, 2004
Summary
Training mental health consumers as tutors for medical students is feasible and effective. This program improved student attitudes towards consumers and demonstrated positive outcomes for both tutors and students in psychiatry education.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Psychiatry Training
- Consumer-Led Initiatives
Background:
- Investigating the integration of mental health consumers into medical education.
- Exploring innovative teaching roles for individuals with lived experience.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the feasibility of training mental health consumers as tutors for 4th-year medical students.
- To evaluate the impact of consumer tutors on student attitudes and learning outcomes in psychiatry.
Main Methods:
- A collaborative partnership developed training for consumer tutors and a medical student curriculum.
- Student attitudes were measured pre- and post-program; tutorial evaluations used rating scales and t-tests.
Main Results:
- Consumer tutors were successfully trained, accredited, and sustained delivery over four years.
- Medical students showed a trend towards improved attitudes towards mental health consumers.
- Both tutors and students reported largely positive outcomes from the teaching program.
Conclusions:
- Mental health consumer tutors are a valuable, untapped resource in medical education.
- Integrating consumer tutors alongside professional faculty yields positive outcomes for students and tutors.
- Further development of consumer-led educational roles is recommended.