Students as teachers

To the Editor: The articles by Hu and colleagues1 and Silbert and colleagues2 highlight the imperatives for medical educators. The future requires the ability to teach as a distinct set of skills that need to be identified early and then encouraged throughout one’s career. Silbert et al advocate a comprehensive, vertically integrated student teaching program using peer-assisted learning (PAL).2 The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) strongly supports this approach to teaching theoretical information as well as clinical examination and procedural skills.