Table 4 Themes, sub themes and selection of citations from the interviews of the near-peer teachers
Themes | Sub themes | Citation |
|---|---|---|
Motivation for being a teacher | ||
Intrinsic factors | Improvement of non-technical skills | “I really wanted to work with teamwork, leadership, and communication.” |
Making a difference for the student | “Well, it’s probably about seeing (…) that you are making a difference for the students and their education.” | |
Extrinsic factors | Improvement of resume | “This was also an opportunity to improve your CV and career as much as possible before you graduated.” |
A future career in education | “But it was also about finding it extremely interesting and hoping to continue in medical education alongside your regular job after graduating.” | |
Near-peers’ perceptions of being a co-developer and a teacher | ||
My role as a co-developer | Involvement | “I feel that we are given quite a big degree of freedom in developing the course.” “It works so well! It is us that makes it. Us that are actually there and knows what is going on. So we need to be part of it. In collaboration with the people higher up, so we know what resources are available. And it is a bit different in comparison to the other courses. It is so great, but it is something that you need to know. You need to know that it is expected of us to help develop the course this much. It is such a cool idea.” |
My role as a teacher | Take responsibility | “Well, as a teacher it requires so much more responsibility. You are responsible for everyone being able to keep up. All the students need to play an active part and learn something. It is also your responsibility to help the shy and more restrained students to be active. Activating people. Responsibility for keeping the time and sticking to the structure.” |
Maintain overview | “You need to be more observant and reflective when watching the simulation (…) It is like being a conductor. The broad perspective is everything.” | |
Establish a safe learning environment. | “It is one of the strengths of the patient safety course, that we create a safe learning environment. Maybe easier as we are at the same place in the hierarchy. It makes reflection possible and enables us in discussing communication on a more emotional level, where all ideas and thoughts are permitted. This is seen in contrast to some senior doctor who just say: “This is the way things are, deal with it”” The students do not perceive you as an assessor | |
Enhances the reflections made by both the student and the teacher | “Your insight as a medical student is clearer. Your teaching is more structured and focused on how other medical students think. Because you’ve been there yourself. I also think the students find the teaching more relatable, and perhaps they’ll learn more from this class when it is relatable. You’re on the same level, and not very far from each other regarding hierarchy.” | |
Challenges | Unexpected things happening during sessions | “That thing about learning to understand what other people are thinking. Why they make the decisions and choices they do, and then trying to evaluate and reflect on that in the group. It also helps you process your own ideas on how things are and should be and are connected. I find that extremely challenging as it can undermine your own perception of life.” |
Knowledge questioned | “Well, I’ve always had the notion that the teacher should be the one who enlightened the students, the one who teaches and makes the students smarter. When your knowledge gets questioned, it can be difficult to be a reliable source on the subject you are trying to teach.” | |
Facilitators | Previous experience as a teacher Feedback | “It helped the transition. I think if I hadn’t had the opportunity (to teach other places) then it would have been a much harder transition to teaching the patient safety course. The learning curve has been very steep.” “I received great feedback from the three teachers that helped train me, they also had some great tips and points. Great thoughts in general on the subject we teach. Also, there were some teachers that sent me material I could read up on beforehand. Read it to improve yourself. And I do expect this to be even more pronounced working with medical students and doctors.” |
The position as teacher grants respect | “You also get a lot of respect just from being their teacher. People look at you and think: Oh, you’re the teacher. And that makes them respect and listen to you automatically. At least that’s my experience.” | |
Near -peer-teachers self-development according to the seven roles of the medical doctor | ||
Medical expert | Knowledge and skills | “I reflect on all the things that we teach the students every time I come home. I’ve improved my knowledge on the subjects we teach and have become much more attentive to speak-ups for example. In a perfect world, I would be a lot better at speaking up, and I still feel that there are many situations where I don’t.” To take the medical knowledge and skills with you into clinical practice |
Communicator | It is more than listening Can be used in other situations | “I think more about communication and how important proper communication is to our clinical work. Being able to hear the subtext of what people are saying, and not just listening to their words.” |
Collaborator | Collaboration with the nurses Collaboration with peers | “Yes, it has been really great working with the experienced nurses. They are much more in touch with their technical skills. They know how it is in real life. Because medical students don’t really have this practical and technical experience. The nurses can provide a more clinically focused discussion (…) I actually feel that we couldn’t really vouch for our course without them. Because they actually know how things are.” “We helped each other with content, good ideas of how to do it” |
Leader | The role of the facilitator | “The role as a facilitator is like being a conductor, it is the broad lines – having an overview and leading the team in the right direction” |
Professional | Being a professional | “To stand in front of a group of people telling them something and make them listen (…) It somehow requires interprofessional competencies” “I would like to become a very good doctor and the seven roles of a doctor defines very well what a good doctor is” |
Scholar | Complexity of teaching | “Standing in front of a group and understanding what their needs are and catching the balls that they throw up in the air. Facilitating a structured discussion and helping them to reflect on the things that matter to them. Really listening to the students and hearing the non-uttered elements.” “In general, I wish to develop as a teacher, and this I feel the course leaders have contributed to.” “I don’t really think I knew how complex it is to teach. This is what made the instructor course so good. It opened your eyes to the complexity of teaching. It gave you some tools to feel more at ease.” |