The Vice President for Academic Affairs and Scientific Research at Arabian Gulf University, Dr. Ghazi bin Abdulrahman Al-Otaibi, and the Dean of the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Prof. Dr. Mohamed Saleh Madadin, honored the participants in the peer education program for students in the medicine and nursing programs at the College of Medicine and Health Sciences. The ceremony was organized by the Peer Education Program Committee, chaired by the Head of the Department of Medical Education, Dr. Mohamed Mustafa Al-Iraqi.

The program participants completed their training in accordance with specific standards set by the members of the Peer Education Program Committee, namely: Dr. Mohamed Mustafa Al-Iraqi, Head of the Department of Medical Education; Dr. Yahya Mohamed Najeeb, Head of the Department of Physiology; Dr. Hawazin Omar Al-Rawas, Head of the Nursing Program; Dr. Aseel Fouad Al-Saleh, Dean of Student Affairs; and Dr. Alaa Nabil Al-Mazni, Associate Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine.

The awards ceremony featured a brief presentation on the peer education program by the program committee head, Dr. Mohamed Mustafa Al-Iraqi, which included the program’s timeline. 35 student teachers were selected from among 57 students across various academic years, based on academic excellence and professional conduct. They were also trained in the basics of lecture planning, with personalized recommendations provided to each student to help develop their teaching skills.

The lectures were delivered both in person and remotely, with approximately 150 students from the Medicine and Nursing programs benefiting from the program over the past few months. The student teachers were also honored, particularly those who received significant praise from their peers. They are: Ali Ibrahim Abbas, a second-year student in the Bachelor of Nursing program, who received 53 evaluations from learners, and Maha Khalid Al-Binali, a fourth-year medical student, who received 41 evaluations from learners. Certificates were also distributed to students in the peer education program.

Dr. Ghazi bin Abdulrahman Al-Otaibi, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Scientific Research, and Prof. Dr. Mohamed Saleh Madadin, Dean of the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, reviewed the program’s future plans, which include establishing a digital platform to facilitate student-instructor interaction, schedule lectures, and gather learner feedback, as well as providing a dashboard for students that enables them to quickly connect with those wishing to register for lectures and share the various learning resources that program students will offer in the future.

For their part, Dr. Ghazi bin Abdulrahman Al-Otaibi and Prof. Dr. Mohamed Saleh Madadin praised the committee’s tireless work, as well as the students’ active participation and their commitment to conveying information effectively to students in various academic years at the university, whether through in-person meetings or online.

The students participating in the program expressed how much they benefited from the diverse sessions with their peers and from exchanging information and opinions with them, which contributed positively to enhancing their peers’ knowledge, developing their critical thinking, and improving their academic performance in the coming years.