Enhancing the performance of preclinical international medical students' in the subjects "medical psychology and medical sociology" through a peer-led revision course.

Abstract

Objective: When moving to a new country for their university studies, international students are confronted with numerous difficulties in their social and academic life. Various projects have been developed to support international students in facing these difficulties, such as peer-assisted learning tutorials. In this study, our goal was to evaluate preclinical international medical students' objective improvement of knowledge after attending a three-day peer-led revision course for the subjects 'medical psychology and medical sociology'.

Methods: The sample consisted of n=30 international students. The objective improvement of knowledge was quantified by the amount of correctly answered questions in the post-test compared to the pre-test. Students were randomly separated into groups based on which test version (A or B) was written in the pre-test. For the comparison between pre- and post-times and between groups, a two-way ANOVA was calculated.

Results: International students significantly improved their knowledge, as reflected in higher post-test scores compared to pre-test scores (F_1,22=13.470, p=0.001).

Conclusion: International students showed an improvement in their knowledge, suggesting a potential benefit from participating in a peer-led revision course. Peer-led tutorial programs for international students should be implemented further in medical faculties as means of supporting these students academically and socially.