We’ve had the student champions in Cambridge, and the sessions were really popular, and fundamentally student led. The students involved have enjoyed their trips to NICE, and have even presented a poster a AMEE conference (see the last page)
What is tricky for me, is the fact that talking about NICE Evidence Search is something we should be doing anyway – it is already integral to all/any of the session I do with the students, so it should never be the case that students are taken by surprise by this resource.
But I do think that the peer-to-peer teaching is hugely valuable – the authenticity of the “I wish I’d known” is hugely valuable. Indeed, it is integral to the Introduction Course that the new intake of Clinical Students in Cambridge have- they have an “associate tutor” – a final year student showing them round, introducing them to wards, and generally guiding them. It is also integral to college life in Cambridge – most colleges have a Parent/Child scheme where a 2nd or 3rd year is parent to a new 1st year.
So what?
I might invite the associate tutors to join me in the “library in your pocket” sessions that I offer for new students in their introductory course. Get them to talk about NHS Evidence while I talk other library resources.