Peer tutoring programs in health professions schools

Peer tutoring programs may be one method of maintaining quality of pharmacy education in the face of growing student enrollment and a small faculty body. A critical review of the literature was performed to ascertain whether peer tutoring programs improve or maintain the academic performance of health care professional students.

Various electronic databases and abstracts from past American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy's annual meetings were searched to identify pertinent research. Only those articles with quantitative data, an experimental design, and comparative statistical analysis were included for review.

Most studies found that peer tutoring had a positive impact on academic performance. These results may not be readily generalizable as there were numerous methodological flaws and limited descriptions of the programs and participants.

Studies with better designs and more detail are needed to answer definitively whether peer tutoring is of benefit. Details of what resources were required should be included in the study to allow the reader to determine the feasibility of the intervention.