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>Response to: Weekly near-peer tutoring sessions improve students’ performance on basic medical sciences and USMLE Step1 examinations
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Response to: Weekly near-peer tutoring sessions improve students’ performance on basic medical sciences and USMLE Step1 examinations
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机译：Response to: Weekly near-peer tutoring sessions improve students’ performance on basic medical sciences and USMLE Step1 examinations
Dear Editor:We read, with interest, Khalil’s (2022) study on weekly near-peer tutoring (NPT) programme’s efficacy for medical students. The study shows the positive impact that NPT sessions can have on students’ academic performance in basic science and USMLE Step 1 examinations. However, we are concerned that methodological issues may detract from the study’s validity.First, a significant covariate was neglected. Since confounding variables obscure an exposure's real effect on an outcome (Grimes and Schulz 2002), it is crucial to control them. In the study, the NPT programme's effect on medical students' performance could have been confounded by the students' characteristics; that is, sedulous students may be more likely to attend classes and are expected to have better academic performance, given their original competency. Thus, this confounding variable (i.e. student's sedulousness) should have been eliminated.Second, there could be a sampling bias. In this study, a survey to evaluate the NPT programme was distributed to only tutees who attended over seven sessions. Since the groups with low attendance may have been dissatisfied with the programme, their opinions should have also been collected.Third, although the author referred to the study as a mixed methods study, this is incorrect. Evaluation survey items pertaining to students' NPT experience only included questions that were measured using the Likert scale, which was then analysed in a quantitative manner. Conducting a survey with open-ended questions or interviews and analysing them in a qualitative manner will help us understand the NPT programme's effect better.In conclusion, this study indicates the NPT sessions' educational value for medical students. However, a more solid research design can significantly enhance this study's significance.
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