Peer Assisted Learning in Medical Institutes

Objectives: To assess the efficacy of peer-assisted learning (PAL) among undergraduate medical students. Methodology: We conducted a systematic review according to the PRISMA guidelines 2020. Data were collected from PubMed, PakMediNet, and Science direct using keywords. From 1911 articles in a search result, 890 were initially selected after duplicate removal and records removed based on time and language. The titles and abstracts were used to filter these 890 publications. After these, 16 comprehensive papers in total that matched our methodology were selected, from which data extraction was done. Original articles, cross-sectional studies, and randomized controlled trials published between 2018 to 2022 that assessed the usefulness of peer-assisted learning (PAL) among undergraduate pupils were included. All non-English articles were excluded. Commentaries, personal opinions, and conference proceedings were also excluded. Results: Sixteen studies were eligible for inclusion and among them, fourteen studies (87.5 percent) were found to have sufficient and complete data to enable systematic review. Nine of these studies (64 percent) showed a significant improvement in examination scores and skills. Four (28.5 percent) of these studies indicated an increased level of motivation and confidence in the practical field. Out of all these, there is only one study that showed no important change between the PAL section and the control section. Conclusion: The efficiency of peer-assisted learning has been demonstrated in improving the knowledge and to some extent academic performance of medical students. However, an adaptation of this method as an institutional tool will require long-term controlled studies to solidify the stance.