Motivations and Experiences of Teaching Assistants in a First-Year Integrated Medical Course

Peer teaching is used in many medical schools and is recognized as beneficial to the student teacher and learner. We surveyed a cohort of teaching assistants (TAs) in a first-year course to determine their motivations to serve as TAs and the perceived benefits. TAs served because they wanted to help, solidify their knowledge, and have an opportunity to teach. They perceived that their experience helped them develop their communication skills and encouraged them to pursue future teaching opportunities. This information will help in recruiting students into teaching and also in developing a standardized student-as-teacher program to foster the next generation of physician educators.