A 2-Year Analysis of Peer Tutoring in Dental Education: Enhancing Student Learning and Developing a Faculty Pathway

To evaluate outcomes of the first 2 years of a peer tutoring program designed to enhance first-year dental students' (D1) learning in tooth morphology and to identify upper-class students interested in academic careers.

This retrospective study analyzed academic performance and survey feedback from D1 students and teaching assistants (TAs) over two academic years (2023-2025) at Loma Linda University School of Dentistry. The D1 Class of 2026 served as a baseline group without peer tutoring, while the Classes of 2027 and 2028 received peer tutoring in addition to faculty instruction. Data included laboratory project scores, competency scores, responses from survey items, and open-ended responses. Descriptive statistics, qualitative summaries, Kruskal-Wallis tests, and regression analyses were performed.

The TA's knowledge, quality of feedback, and program organization were highly rated by D1s, with many expressing interest in serving as TAs in the future. Qualitative feedback emphasized overall satisfaction, along with requests for additional demonstrations and a refined session structure. TAs reported gains in communication and teaching skills, as well as increased willingness to help others, which was significantly associated with interest in academic careers (p = 0.002). From the final formative assessment to the summative competency evaluation, performance gains were 18.7%, 37.6%, and 41.9% for the Classes of 2026, 2027, and 2028, respectively, with significantly greater improvements in the peer-tutored cohorts (p < 0.001).

The peer tutoring program enhanced D1 students' learning experiences and facilitated early identification of students with academic career interest. High satisfaction rates and greater improvements from formative to summative assessments highlight the program's potential as a sustainable pathway for developing future dental faculty.