Implementation of Near-Peer Learning for the Sustainability of Rural Family Medicine Education

Balancing educators and trainees in community-based medical education (CBME) is essential for practical education in family medicine and the quality of care. The number of educators and trainees can be flexible in rural family medicine education. Implementing near-peer learning (NPL), in which trainees learn from each other and enhance their clinical skills, is complementary to medical education in rural medical education, which lacks medical educators. The Department of Community Care at the Unnan City Hospital has experienced significant changes in staffing structure. The previous structure of two consultants and six senior residents was replaced by losing one consultant and adding three senior residents. Therefore, the balance between the numbers of educators and learners changed significantly. Traditional teamwork methods no longer ensure effective team communication and balance; currently, effective teamwork does not occur within a team. The increased burden on consultants could result in lower patient outcomes and decreased quality of education for students and residents, thereby affecting the nurturing of future generations. To overcome these difficulties, we implemented the NPL. The implementation was based on strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) and stakeholder analyses. This technical report demonstrated that NPL in rural family medicine education benefits the quality of rural medical education.