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Peer-led medication education in the time of COVID-19

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 June 2021

Rosa Roberts
Rosa Roberts*
Affiliation:
Avon and Wiltshire Partnership Trust; Barnet Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust
*
*corresponding author.
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Abstract

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Aims

To set up an online peer-led medical education programme for core psychiatry trainees during the COVID-19 pandemic.

To determine trainees’ views regarding the role of peer-led education in psychiatry.

Method

A peer-led education programme was set up for psychiatry trainees in their third year of core training, held over an online video-conferencing platform. The weekly sessions were organised and led by trainees. Each week a trainee either presented a journal article or a particular psychiatric topic, with a group discussion afterwards.

An online survey was sent to psychiatry trainees that had participated in the programme to determine their views. Close-ended questions were asked as well as open-ended questions for more qualitative responses.

Result

There were 9 peer-led sessions in total, with 11 trainees (out of 18 invited) attending at least one session, and an average of 5 trainees at each session.

Five core trainee psychiatrists responded to the survey following the sessions. All of the respondents found the sessions either “very” or “fairly” useful. 80% stated that there should be more peer teaching opportunities as part of normal psychiatry training. All respondents found engaging with online teaching either “easy” or “OK”.

Open-ended questions showed that respondents found the sessions were useful for: 1) connecting with peers during a difficult time 2) free discussion due to being around peers 3) wide interest and variety of topics. Improvements that could have been made were: 1) more sessions 2) advance knowledge of journal articles being presented.

Conclusion

Peer-led sessions are a useful form of medical education for core psychiatry trainees. During the restrictions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic they are a way to connect with colleagues during an isolating time. They are easy to organise and access; and can take pressure off medical institutions, whilst having the advantages of allowing trainees to feel they can discuss topics in a more open manner and can follow their own interests.

Type
Education and Training
Information
BJPsych Open , Volume 7 , Supplement S1: Abstracts of the RCPsych Virtual International Congress 2021, 21–24 June , June 2021 , pp. S153
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Royal College of Psychiatrists
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