Peer Tutors in the School of Medicine

Abstract

Since 2003 the School of Medicine at theUniversidad del Rosario in Bogotá, Colombia,offers to the students a program named PeerTutors. The program’s objectives are: to generatea social interaction mechanism that favorsknowledge construction side by side withadvanced peers; to promote the development ofRecibido:Aceptado:* M.D., MSc (est.). Profesor Asistente de Cirugía. Coordinadordel Grupo de Investigación en Educación Médica.Universidad del Rosario. [email protected]** M.D. Coordinador de Tutores Pares, I semestre de2003. Universidad del Rosario.+ M.D. Coordinadora de Tutores Pares, II semestre de2003. Universidad del Rosario.+ M.D. Coordinadora de Tutores Pares, 2004. Universidaddel Rosario.§ M.D. Coordinadora de Tutores Pares, I semestre de2005. Universidad del RosarioDescargos de responsabilidad: Las ideas expuestasen el presente artículo son responsabilidad exclusivade los autores y no comprometen a ninguna institución.Disclaimer: the ideas expressed in this article areexclusively the author’s responsibility and do notcompromise any institution.Artículo originalethical, moral and coexistence oriented valuesthrough an academic experience, and to generatea space to explore specific academic interests andteacher´s potential. This article presents thetheoretic frame that supports the importance ofsocial interaction in knowledge construction, aswell as some indicators that allow a first appraisalof the program. Several achievements thataccount for the synergic value of an experiencethat not only fulfills the function of initiating aprocess of teaching formation and academicsupport, but that also builds a proactive attitudebefore learning, are highlighted.

Keywords

• Medical education
• constructivism
• cognition
• social interaction
• peer tutoring
• educational program