No such thing as a free lunch?

High-quality, out-of-classroom interactions between students and teachers help to develop communities of learning. In medicine, they contribute to the professionalisation of students.

We designed a novel student-faculty member lunch scheme for first-year medical students at our institution. Students received a free lunch in groups of six with a faculty member 'hosting' and paying for lunch, with the cost reimbursed by the medical school. Focus groups with students were used to evaluate the impact of the intervention.

Approximately half of all Year-1 students signed up for the scheme (n = 153). Twenty faculty members hosted one or more lunches. Focus group analysis revealed that attendees felt more positively about individual faculty members and the institution as a result of participation, and that it helped the process of induction and transition into medical school, but that it suffered from a lack of continuing contact. Out-of-classroom interactions between students and teachers help to develop communities of learning CONCLUSIONS: This intervention encouraged positive student-faculty member interactions, albeit with a relatively small group of students. It did not seem to encourage longitudinal staff-student relationships, however, which is a key limitation.