The experiences and attitudes of students and lectures regarding peer physical examination in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Free State

English: Health professions students use peer physical examinations (PPE) for the purpose of training globally, but in many institutions no formal policy or guidelines exists. There are many benefits of the use of PPE e.g. students are readily available to practise on, students need not to be financially compensated and it has proven to increase students’ clinical skills and confidence, but some students may not want to participate in PPE for various reasons like religion, culture etc. Peer physical examination is the physical examination of a student by a fellow student to enhance his/her clinical skills. This is done under the supervision of a professional person or lecturer. Currently no policy or guidelines regarding peer physical examination exists in the Faculty of Health Sciences (FoHS) at the University of the Free State (UFS) and it is required from the students to participate in peer physical examination during their studies. An in-depth study was conducted to establish the attitudes and experiences of students and lecturers regarding the use of PPE in the FoHS using focus group interviews with students and lecturers. The content of a PPE policy for the FoHS at the UFS was explored with the second question of the focus group interviews. The study was done in the field of Health Professions Educations in the domain of management and leadership and wanted to provide a guideline that may be used to direct students and lecturers when participating in PPE and to explore what is needed to be included in the content of a PPE policy. A qualitative research design was followed with three focus group interviews as data collection method and the compilation of an extensive literature review on the topic. One focus group was with lecturers of all three schools in the FoHS of the UFS who participate in teaching students’ clinical skills and surface anatomy and the other two with students from all three Schools in the FoHS, UFS. Data were transcribed verbatim by the researcher and themes, categories and subcategories identified. Five themes were identified from the collected data. The identified themes, categories and subcategories were compared and discussed with the findings and recommendations of an extensive literature review in mind. The literature review provided a contextual and conceptual understanding of PPE and the benefits and pitfalls associated with the use of it. Perspectives on the use of PPE in different professions were discussed as well as the advantages and disadvantages of the introduction of a policy on PPE at various universities globally. The identified themes were: • Value of PPE • Ethical considerations when using PPE • Student safety • Student concerns • Miscellaneous. The majority of participants agreed that the use of PPE is beneficial to students. The participants agreed participation in PPE increase competence levels in clinical skills, improve confidence and communication skills and assist them to act professionally. Some participants were concerned about educator supervision when practising on peers and some felt that flipping the classroom will benefit students and lecturers as less time will be spent on lecturing and more on the actual practising of the various clinical skills. This study provided recommendations on the content of a PPE policy for the use of PPE from the perspective of health profession students and lecturers from the FoHS at the UFS. The results may be used as guidelines to formulate a PPE policy for the FoHS at the UFS.