The Impact of Near-Peer Teaching Methods in Undergraduate and Postgraduate Surgical Education Using the Kirkpatrick...

The aim of this study was to use the Kirkpatrick evaluation model (levels 1-4) to analyze the impacts of NPT programmes on learners and tutors within surgical education.

This study was registered prospectively on the international platform of registered systematic reviews and meta-analysis protocols (INPLASY)- INPLASY202450037. The study was conducted following the PRISMA guidelines. A search of PubMed, Medline, Embase, PsycINFO and CINAHL was performed from inception till March 30, 2024. Quality appraisal of the included studies was performed using the mixed methods appraisal tool (MMAT).

22 studies were included in the final analysis. The results showed that NPT was better or at least comparable to senior faculty-led teaching for improved satisfaction ratings for most clinical and nonclinical parameters; improved learners' knowledge and basic surgical skills; and improved clinical practice for leading ward rounds (Kirkpatrick model, levels 1-3). NPT did not improve learners' interest in pursuing a surgical career. No evidence was reported for the impact of NPT on healthcare/educational organizations (Kirkpatrick model, level 4). For tutors, there was evidence that showed that NPT had positive impacts on their basic surgical, mentoring and teaching skills. Quality appraisal showed that the included studies had high to moderate quality.

This study has shown that there is high to moderate quality evidence for the impact of NPT in undergraduate and postgraduate surgical education for levels 1 and 2 of the Kirkpatrick models, with some evidence for its impact on learners at level 3 of the Kirkpatrick model within postgraduate surgical education. Future research should be focused on the impact of NPT on real-life behavioral changes and on organizations (levels 3 and 4 of the Kirkpatrick models, respectively) within a surgical educational context.