SOLViT: innovative online peer-led learning for lockdown

Casalotti, Seb Rai Salina Norris Isabel Singh Amandeep Choa George Johnston Rebecca Sen Camilla Baki Yasmin

A team of UCL Medical School (UCLMS) graduates developed interactive remote teaching for medical students during the COVID-19 lockdown: Student-led Online Virtual Team-based Learning (SOLViT). Following a pilot with Year 5 students, we worked under UCLMS mentorship to formally integrate it into the curriculum.SOLViT comprised 29 new sessions spanning the Year 5 curriculum, enhancing established team-based learning with novel gamification: ‘knock-out’ clinical cases and innovative ‘Bonus questions’. Content was generated by Year 5 students, who wrote questions on their most recently studied module. Our SOLViT team vetted and formatted questions into quizzes, collaborated with clinicians for quality assurance and delivered the teaching live over 11 weeks. Gamification and peer co-design improved relevance and engagement, and graduate facilitation relieved clinicians of technological responsibility. Creating strong relationships between the SOLViT team, clinicians and UCLMS staff was essential to embed and deliver our innovation. Additionally, in this process we gained feedback from experts for our own development.We evaluated the program through weekly feedback forms, in-session polls, and live whiteboard interaction, enabling week-by-week improvements. Students reported their need for clinical teaching and social interaction was addressed when many felt isolated. From 79 respondents, 64% felt that sessions were stronger being peer rather than clinician led (29% were neutral). 93% felt that peer-driven gamification made sessions more fun.This project demonstrates that students can generate high-level, interactive, peer-to-peer education with low time investment by clinical staff, and boost student morale even at a challenging time. Our strengthening of relationships between graduate educators and medical faculty will enable us to shape future learning at UCLMS.Peer-led, MedEd, gamification, distance