An assessment of barriers and facilitators of near-peer coaching on surgical clerkships: a mixed-methods study from resident’s perspective

Abstract Purpose We implemented a near-peer (resident–student) coaching intervention in 2021–2022 to improve clerkship students’ health system science (HSS) learning and application. This study thus sought to identify implementation barriers and potential facilitators of an effective HSS near-peer coaching program for clerkship students from the resident coach’s perspective at a single tertiary-care institution. Methods A mixed-methods study design was employed. Thirty surgical residents volunteered to serve as HSS coaches for rotating third-year medical students during the 2021–2022 academic year. Coaches were asked to complete an exit survey, and a subset was purposefully sampled to complete semi-structured interviews. Transcripts were coded and analyzed with a framework method to identify emergent themes indicative of the barriers and facilitators of effective implementation of this near-peer HSS coaching program. Results A total of 20/30 (67%) resident coaches completed the survey and 50% of these residents ( n = 10/20) completed an interview. Coaches facilitated multiple meetings (ranging from 1 to more than 5 times) with their assigned students over the course of the 3-month surgical rotations. Most coaches who deemed themselves successful in coaching reported early prioritization of setting individualized clerkship goals. Rapport building and strong communication were also important factors identified in facilitating effective near-peer cognitive coaching relationships. Conclusions Our study suggests that, from residents’ perspective, effective near-peer coaching by residents on surgical clerkships requires special emphasis on early goal setting, as well as training and development of coaches in skills, such as feedback delivery, and rapport building to encourage strong resident–student coaching relationships that cater to the individualized needs of the learner.