In seeking wisdom, the first step is silence, the second listening, the third remembering, the fourth practicing, the fifth -- teaching others.  -Ibn Gabirol, poet and philosopher (c. 1022-1058)

The art of medicine has long been passed from practitioner to student throughout the ages, and even instilled in the Hippocratic oath. The strong held belief of 'see one, do one, teach one' has been tried and tested to learn, remember and refine our knowledge and skills as we progress through our careers. These are the same principles utilised by peer-2-peer.

Peer-2-peer (or p2p) is the mentoring and tutoring initiative started formally in 2008 with great success. It involves a pair of senior tutors (year 4-6) attached to a group of 6-8 junior students (year 1) and together you can discuss tricky concepts, approach to symptoms and diseases, exams and generally anything to do with medicine.

While the benefit to junior students is obvious, the chance to revise, learn, teach and hone skills for the senior students is equally as beneficial.

There are responsibilities for both the junior student and the tutor in peer-2-peer and these are worth considering before getting involved.

Responsibilities of the junior student

1) To communicate effectively with your tutor. Help your tutor organise times, let them know if you cannot attend for a particular session. Peer-2-peer is not compulsory at any point and if you feel confident enough to study independently of peer-2-peer then let your tutor know. Peer-2-peer should continue as long as both tutor and student are benefiting from it and if you want to leave the group, do so politely.

2) Send questions or discussion topics to your tutors in advance and send through CBL notes / timetables for convenience. It is easier and more effective if your tutors have time to think about your case before the session.

3) Session times in peer-2-peer can often change and it will be your responsibility to help ensure that other students in your group know about the changes. Tutors will send out emails however students can spread the word easily during lectures etc.

4) Do not expect too much of your tutors. The senior students are not consultants and although they will not know everything, they will be able to improve your knowledge and study habits in many ways. 

Responsibilities of the tutor

1) Peer-2-peer is a significant time commitment. Time is required for: organising session times, doing the sessions and preparing which usually requires at least 1-2 hrs work. Going into peer-2-peer 'cold' without revising the material is not advised. Due to time commitment, peer-2-peer is recommended mostly for year 4 and year 6 students.

2) Cover material that is likely to help for exams and carefully consider what are essential concepts in a case.

3) Follow-up problems that were unresolved in a session, sometimes by producing written answers.  

4) You might choose to make yourself available during pre-clinical examinations for answering questions by email.

5) Be contactable and inform the students if you cannot make it on certain weeks. Choose session times that follow a lecture so that students do not come in purely for peer-2-peer.

6) Reassess regularly how peer-2-peer is going and be sensitive to the needs of the students, i.e. how they are getting home if it's late, if you run overtime etc.

7) Be enthusiastic and make it fun!

Testimonials

Peer-2-peer is usually a fantastic experience for both tutors and students. For students it is an excellent way to enhance your studies, learn about medical student life and get to know other students. For tutors it is an excellent way to revise and hone your knowledge and get early experience as a teacher.

The following are anonymous written testimonials from students and tutors in 2009...

STUDENTS

"p2p was something that I looked forward to each week - it was where the physiology/pathology that I learnt over the past week come to life and fit into the clinical picture"

"I think that it is an excellent conduit of learning to supplement the medical school program, the seniors were really helpful in clearing up/filling in the gaps of knowledge that I did not manage to cover in CBL."

"Our peer-2-peer sessions always had an exam focus and this was extremely helpful in passing the exams"

 "Other skills that were shared during the sessions included how to search for a certain piece of information that I needed that wasn't in the regular Sherwood and how much depth to go into for a certain topic (something many first years struggle to do - I was no exception)"

"Apart from solely the education side, I think the pastoral care and advice given by the tutors were invaluable."

"We really appreciated the time our tutor gave us. we learnt heaps about

"p2p helped me make some close friends in my own year. It brought us all together and was more relaxed than PBL".

TUTORS

"I loved doing p2p this year"

"p2p is great and teaching is part of the Hippocratic oath, so it's only natural that senior students pass on their knowledge to the juniors"

"I felt that the first years in my group could freely ask questions that were bothering them about their case, and that the atmosphere in p2p was relaxed and friendly"

"I was paired with another senior student that I didn't know and now we're good friends!"

"I thought that I had a lot to offer students not only academically but also for things such as: using the path museum, using library resources and getting the most out of resource"

"Teaching first year students was ideal because there is a large knowledge gap and you can help them develop good study habits as well."

"We have a photo of our p2p group from our last session and I'll never forget it"


- Team p2p

The Adelaide Medical Students’ Society’s

Internet Resources Guide

MD Consult

A truly excellent source of information, the website is divided into a number of sections accessible by the astutely named tabs at the top of the page. Before buying any textbook check to see if it – or a similar one – is available on MD Consult and reconsider your need to purchase the book. 

For example, in 2010, the following core textbooks will be available on MD consult...

Guyton & Hall: Textbook of Medical Physiology, 11th Ed. 2005
Drake: Gray's Anatomy for Students, 2nd Ed. 2009
Young: Wheater's Functional Histology, 5th Ed. 2006

Read below to find out how to access these textbooks online from a university or home computer! Note: MD consult also supports full mobile access for Adelaide students and so it can be accessed from iPhones and other hand-held devices.

Textbooks

MD Consult is a portal to textbooks from just about every medical speciality. There are far too many books and specialities to mention here; suffice it to say, you would be doing yourself a disservice by not exploring the possibilities yourself.  

Some of the specialities covered by MD Consult include:
• Cardiovascular
• Surgery
• General Medicine (Cecil’s)
• Gastrointestinal
• Emergency Medicine
• Renal Medicine
• Psychiatry
• Paediatrics

This is a great resource for PBL (especially for second and third years) and could also come in handy on the wards.  

To access click here or follow these steps:

1. Log onto MD Consult via Adelaide Uni library proxy at http://www.adelaide.edu.au/library/
   a. Search for ‘MD consult’ in library catalogue
   b. Scroll down and click on ‘MD consult [electronic resource]’
   c. Click on link to e-resource ‘Click here to access (Also available to SAMHS staff)’
   d. Enter your student number and password
   e. Click on the 'books' tab at the top of the page
2. Search books via one of three methods:
   a. By using the search bar at the top of the page, eg. “Myocardial infarction’
   b. By searching alphabetically or via specialities for book and using the book’s index
   c. By searching alphabetically or via specialities for book and then using the ‘Search This Book’ tool available at the top of the page

Journals

MD Consult also acts as a portal to hundred of full-text journals. The search engine appears much more intuitive than PubMed, so perhaps try searching for journals here first. Or, use this service when trying to find the full text of an article you’ve found somewhere else.

Journals accessible include:
• The American Journal of Cardiology (full text available from January 2001 – present)
• Journal of the American College of Surgeons (full text available from 2001 – present)
• American Family Physician (full text available January 1999 – present)
• American Heart Journal (full text available January 1995 – present)
• American Journal of Kidney Disease (full text available 1999 – present)
• The Lancet Infectious Diseases (full text available January 2001 – present)

Searching for Journal articles can be achieved using one of three search methods:

1. By searching all ‘Journals/MEDLINE’ for a topic, eg. ‘meningococcal meningitis’
   a. Be sure to notice the ‘date range’ you opt for. Too narrow will result in few correct results while a too broad search could produce outdated information.
2. By searching a particular journal for a particular topic, eg. Searching ‘The Lancet Infectious Diseases’ for ‘meningococcal meningitis’
   a. By entering the name of the journal into the search bar ‘Journal Name’, or
   b. By selecting the journal from the list on the Journals title page
3. By searching for a particular article, eg. ‘Fitch, van de Beek. Emergency diagnosis and treatment of adult meningitis’ The Lancet Infectious Diseases, Volume 7 Issue 3 March 2007’
   a. By using the relevant search boxes on the Journals title page.

To access click here or follow these steps:

1. Log onto MD Consult via Adelaide Uni library proxy at http://www.adelaide.edu.au/library/
   a. Search for ‘MD consult’ in library catalogue
   b. Scroll down and click on ‘MD consult [electronic resource]’
   c. Click on link to e-resource ‘Click here to access (Also available to SAMHS staff)’
   d. Enter your student number and password
   e. Click on the 'journals' tab at the top of the page
2. Simply select ‘Journals’ if already logged on to MD Consult
3. Search journals via one of three methods mentioned previously.

Drugs

Access to information provided by Gold Standard, which provides ‘clinically-based drug information content through an independent, peer-reviewed process’.  

This resource usually contains good details on drug mechanisms of action.  

For more information on Gold Standard, visit: www.goldstandard.com

To access click here or follow these steps:

1. Log onto MD Consult via Adelaide Uni library proxy at http://www.adelaide.edu.au/library/
   a. Search for ‘MD consult’ in library catalogue
   b. Scroll down and click on ‘MD consult [electronic resource]’
   c. Click on link to e-resource ‘Click here to access (Also available to SAMHS staff)’
   d. Enter your student number and password
   e. Click on the 'drugs' tab at the top of the page
2. Simpy select ‘Drugs’ if already logged on to MD Consult
3. Search Drugs based on
   a. Drug name
   b. Indications
   c. Contraindications

STAT!Ref

Similar to (but less well known than) MD Consult, STAT!Ref acts as a portal to textbooks, Anatomy TV and Stedman’s Medical Dictionary. 

Textbooks

Including access to two pharmacology texts and the DSM IV-TR of which there is not similar type on MD Consult. 

Books available include:
• ACP (American College of Physicians) Medicine
• Adams and Victor’s Principles of Neurology, 8th ed. (2005)
• Basic and Clinical Pharmacology, 10th ed. (2007)
• Diagnostic and Statistical Manual – Text Revision (DSM IV-TR) (2000)
• Goodman & Gilman’s The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, 11th ed. (2006)

To access click here, or follow these steps:

1. Log onto STAT!Ref via Adelaide Uni library proxy at http://www.adelaide.edu.au/library/
   a. Search for ‘STAT!Ref’ in library catalogue
   b. Click on ‘STAT!Ref [electronic resource]’
   c. Click on Link to e-Resource ‘http://online.statref.com/default.asp?grpalias=Adelaide’
   d. Enter your student number and password
2. Click on ‘Titles’ tab to access textbooks
3. Search for topic via one of two methods:
   a. By using the search bar at the top of the page, eg. “Myocardial infarction”
   b. By searching alphabetically for book and using the book’s index

Anatomy.TV

This is a unique took available to Adelaide Uni students. It claims to be “the world’s most detailed 3D model of human anatomy online” and contains detailed computer-generated images of muscles, bones, nerves, arteries and the rest.  

It’s certainly worth checking out, and it may be particularly useful for students preparing for resource or studying for Limb Dissection. 

After selection a region of the body to view (eg. ‘interactive hip’), use the ‘dissect up or down’ function to view deeper or more superficial structures, which are organised in layers. Use the arrows at the bottom of the screen to rotate the image. Click on a muscle, nerve, bone or blood vessel to view detailed written information, which will appear in the side bar. 

To access click here, or follow these steps:

1. Log onto STAT!Ref via Adelaide Uni library proxy at http://www.adelaide.edu.au/library/
   a. Search for ‘STAT!Ref’ in library catalogue
   b. Click on ‘STAT!Ref [electronic resource]’
   c. Click on Link to e-Resource ‘http://online.statref.com/default.asp?grpalias=Adelaide’
   d. Enter your student number and password
2. Click on ‘Titles’ tab to access textbooks
3. Search for topic via one of two methods:
   a. By using the search bar at the top of the page, eg. “Myocardial infarction”
   b. By searching alphabetically for book and using the book’s index
4. click on ‘Resources’ tab
5. click on ‘anatomy TV’ S

Stedman’s Medical Dictionary

To access click here, or follow these steps:

1. Log onto STAT!Ref via Adelaide Uni library proxy at http://www.adelaide.edu.au/library/
   a. Search for ‘STAT!Ref’ in library catalogue
   b. Click on ‘STAT!Ref [electronic resource]’
   c. Click on Link to e-Resource ‘http://online.statref.com/default.asp?grpalias=Adelaide’
   d. Enter your student number and password
2. click on ‘Resources’ tab
3. click on ‘Stedman’s Medical Dictionary'

Emedicine

To access click here or follow these steps:

1. Go to www.emedicine.com
2. Create an account and log in
3. Search for content via one of two ways:
   a. Use the search bar at the top of the page
   b. Scroll down to view and select medical and surgical specialties

-----------------------------------------------------
MD Consult (including Cecil's)
Stat!Ref (including AnatomyTV)
Emedicine
AMH
Harrison's Online
RACGP Australian Family Physician
Australian Doctor: How To Treat
UpToDate
Best Practice
------------------------------------------------------

Australian Medicines Handbook (AMH)

1. Log onto AMH via Adelaide Uni library proxy at http://www.adelaide.edu.au/library/
   a. Search for ‘AMH’ in library catalogue
   b. Click on ‘AMH [electronic resource] : Australian medicines handbook.’
   c. Click on Link to e-Resource ‘Click here to access’
   d. Enter your student number and password
2. Search for content via one of two methods:
   a. Using the search function by clicking on the magnifying glass in the top right-hand corner of the screen
   b. Browsing through chapters

-----------------------------------------------------
MD Consult (including Cecil's)
Stat!Ref (including AnatomyTV)
Emedicine
AMH
Harrison's Online
RACGP Australian Family Physician
Australian Doctor: How To Treat
UpToDate
Best Practice
------------------------------------------------------

Harrison’s Online (via Access Medicine)

This staple of medical education is available free to students via the library proxy. It is an absolute must see destination and generally offers a good level of detail sufficient for PBL/CBL and knowledge on the wards. 

To access click here or follow these steps:

1. log onto Harrison’s Online via Uni of Adelaide library proxy at http://www.adelaide.edu.au/library/
   a. Search for ‘Harrison’s Online’ in the library catalogue
   b. Click on ‘Harrison’s Online [electronic resource]’
   c. Clink on Link to e-Resource ‘click here to access’ 
   d. Enter your student number and password
2. Enter search term in search bar or scroll down to browse chapters

Diagnosaurus

Unknown to many students, Access Medicine also offers differential diagnosis assistance via the ‘Ddx’ tab. Click to browse by symptom, disease, or organ system with helpful hyperlinks to relevant chapters.

To access click here or follow these steps:

1. log onto Harrison’s Online via Uni of Adelaide library proxy at http://www.adelaide.edu.au/library/
   a. Search for ‘Harrison’s Online’ in the library catalogue
   b. Click on ‘Harrison’s Online [electronic resource]’
   c. Clink on Link to e-Resource ‘click here to access’ 
   d. Enter your student number and password
2. Click on 'Ddx' tab
   

-----------------------------------------------------
MD Consult (including Cecil's)
Stat!Ref (including AnatomyTV)
Emedicine
AMH
Harrison's Online
RACGP Australian Family Physician
Australian Doctor: How To Treat
UpToDate
Best Practice
------------------------------------------------------

RACGP Australian Family Physician

This useful resource directed at General Practitioners is available free to anyone on the World Wide Web. It often contains very succinct articles relevant to Australian clinical practice; and, more senior students (3rd year and above) may find this resource particularly helpful. A great place to start for third year PBL/CBL, due to its clinical focus. 

To access click here or follow these steps:

1. Log onto http://www.racgp.org.au/afp
2. Enter search term in search bar or view back issues online

-----------------------------------------------------
MD Consult (including Cecil's)
Stat!Ref (including AnatomyTV)
Emedicine
AMH
Harrison's Online
RACGP Australian Family Physician
Australian Doctor: How To Treat
UpToDate
Best Practice
------------------------------------------------------

Australian Doctor: How To Treat

1. Log onto http://www.australiandoctor.com.au/howtotreat.asp
2. Use your find function (Crtl + F) to search for key words or scroll down to view all articles

-----------------------------------------------------
MD Consult (including Cecil's)
Stat!Ref (including AnatomyTV)
Emedicine
AMH
Harrison's Online
RACGP Australian Family Physician
Australian Doctor: How To Treat
UpToDate
Best Practice
------------------------------------------------------

UpToDate

Once students start using it, many find that UpToDate is something that they can't live without. It was previously available in the hospitals only, but is now available for all Adelaide university students - which is GREAT news.

UpToDate is quite possibily a clinical student's best friend. It is widely available in the hospitals and it has a knack for containing just the right information you need, when you're desperately searching minutes before a ward round. There's also PLENTY in it for pre-clinical students too.

Unfortunately, you MUST BE ON A UNIVERSITY COMPUTER (i.e. you must be at uni) to access UpToDate. It is not accessible off-campus, such as from a home computer.

To access UpToDate FROM A UNIVERSITY COMPUTER click here, or follow these steps:

1. Log onto UpToDate via Adelaide Uni Library Proxy at http://www.adelaide.edu.au/library/
a) Search for 'UpToDate' in the library catalogue
b) Click on 'UpToDate online [electronic resource]'
c) Enter your student number and password

2. To navigate UpToDate simply type relevant terms in the search field

-----------------------------------------------------
MD Consult (including Cecil's)
Stat!Ref (including AnatomyTV)
Emedicine
AMH
Harrison's Online
RACGP Australian Family Physician
Australian Doctor: How To Treat
UpToDate
Best Practice
------------------------------------------------------

Best Practice

 
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