PURPOSE
Medical education programs increasingly incorporate interventions that
promote learner success, community, and well-being. Faculty engagement and
peer teaching are two evidence-supported strategies; however, fewer studies
explore how these elements function together. This study evaluates the impact
of Tuesday Afternoon Club (TAC), a weekly collaborative learning forum
designed to enhance academic support, strengthen student–faculty relationships,
and foster peer-assisted learning.
METHODS
TAC is a voluntary weekly open-forum session at the Paul L. Foster School
of Medicine where students can ask questions, review challenging concepts,
and interact informally with faculty and trained peer tutors. The space was
jointly developed by faculty and peer tutors to reduce barriers to academic
help-seeking by offering consistent, approachable support. Students who
attended these sessions were anonymously surveyed regarding their
experiences.
RESULTS
14 survey responses were analyzed. 72% students felt more confident
approaching peer tutors after attending TAC sessions and 57% students also
felt TAC improved their connections with professors. 65% students felt that
attending TAC helped them better understand a topic. While 21% students
mentioned that they preferred the existing open-forum structure, 29%
preferred having a set agenda, 21% strongly preferred having a set agenda,
and 21% had no preference regarding the format.
CONCLUSION
TAC’s open and collaborative environment appears to support medical
students’ learning, confidence, and relationship-building with both faculty
and peers. Early findings suggest that integrating faculty presence with peer
teaching may be a promising model for academic support and wellness in
medical education. This pilot study highlights the value of informal,
low-barrier learning spaces and provides a foundation for future exploration
of hybrid faculty–peer tutoring initiatives. Due to initial limitations in
sample size, TAC sessions remain ongoing and further data collection is
underway.