A review of teaching skills development programmes for medical students

The CanMEDS role of Scholar requires that medical trainees develop their skills as medical educators. The development of teaching skills in undergraduate medical students is therefore desirable, especially in view of the teaching obligations in residency programmes.

The goal of this review was to identify the characteristics and outcomes of programmes designed to develop the teaching skills of undergraduate medical students.

The authors searched medical literature databases using combinations of the search terms 'medical student', 'teacher', 'teaching skills', 'peer teaching', 'near-peer teaching' and 'student as teacher'. Twenty papers fit the predetermined search criteria, which included original characterisations of specific programmes involving undergraduate medical students.

Three types of initiative were identified in the reviewed articles: peer teaching programmes; teaching workshops, and community outreach programmes. The majority of study participants were students in Years 3 and 4. Subjective self-evaluation by participants using Likert scale-based surveys was by far the most commonly used method of measuring project outcomes. Objective, quantitative teaching-related outcomes were rarely noted in the reports reviewed. Self-perceived improvements in teaching skills were noted by participants in most of the reports. Other perceived benefits included increases in organisational skills, knowledge and confidence in giving feedback.

Although several types of programmes have been shown to subjectively improve the teaching skills of undergraduate medical students, characterisation of the objective outcomes of these initiatives is lacking and requires further study.