Near-peer faculty within simulation-based education in health care: a scoping review protocol

Background Peer-assisted learning and near-peer-assisted learning are established educational philosophies within undergraduate healthcare curricula. Although widely described throughout healthcare education, the extent to which peers are involved as ‘student faculty’ within simulation-based education (SBE) remains unclear. This scoping review protocol seeks to outline how we propose to map the current landscape of peer-faculty involvement in SBE, identifying their roles, training requirements and evaluation methods, as well as reported benefits and challenges of a peer faculty. Research Aim and Questions The aim of this scoping review is to systematically explore the utilization and impact of peer faculty within SBE in undergraduate healthcare education. Our specific research questions are as follows: (1) What roles are peer faculty performing and supporting within SBE in undergraduate healthcare education? (2) What is the content and schedule of training provided for peer faculty? (3) What methods, tools or approaches are used to evaluate the benefits, effectiveness or challenges of peer faculty within SBE with respect to (a) learners, (b) institutions and (c) peer faculty themselves? (4) What methods are used to assess competence, or provide feedback, for different roles undertaken by peer faculty within SBE? Methods Following the Arksey and O’Malley framework, this scoping review will employ a systematic search across nine databases, including PubMed, Scopus and CINAHL. The review will focus on empirical studies and other published academic works that describe the involvement of peer faculty in undergraduate healthcare SBE. Data extraction will be guided by pre-defined criteria, and results will be synthesized to address the key research questions and identify gaps in the literature and to propose directions for future research. Discussion This scoping review will attempt to address a gap in the synthesized literature and map the current terrain concerning how peer faculty are engaged within SBE. This topic is particularly pertinent given the potential benefits of incorporating peer faculty more widely in SBE in the context of rising healthcare student numbers and limited faculty expansion alongside the increasing use of experiential learning modalities in healthcare education.