Getting started with Peer Assisted Learning in a veterinary curriculum

Peer-Assisted Learning (PAL) methodologies that involve students teaching other students have been shown to be valid and effective in a variety of disciplines, and are gaining increasing interest within veterinary medical education. PAL has been formally embedded within the undergraduate veterinary clinical skills curriculum at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies (R(D)SVS), Edinburgh since 2009 (and informally for several years before this), and has been delivered successfully to over one thousand first-year tutees by over one thousand fourth-year tutors (in their penultimate clinical year). This “teaching tip” article therefore aims to provide an informative overview of PAL for colleagues who may be interested in the methodology, and to give practical tips as to how it can be successfully implemented in a veterinary degree program. We will summarize key evidence from the literature, provide a detailed example of how PAL has been implemented and optimized in our own veterinary degree program, include a subset of representative evaluation data from both tutors and tutees, and then conclude by providing colleagues with practical tips and resources (such as planning checklists and lesson plan templates) for implementing a PAL activity at their own school.