Near-peer Tutoring Compared With a Standard Faculty-led Course for Undergraduate Training in Abdominal Ultrasound.

In the intervention group, students will be given access to an e-learning platform that contains five e-learning modules. They will attend individual small group tutoring sessions, with a maximum of 4 students per group. They will be able to book these sessions at a dedicated web platform. They will have 16 weeks in which to complete the 5 e-learning modules and 16 hours of practical training. Progress will be monitored and supported by regular follow-up messages and calls by the study team. Students must hand in the logbook with tutors' signatures when they enter the exam. All students within the blended learning group that completed 5 hours of e-learning as well as 16 hours of peer-tutoring and passed a predefined total score in the test directly after the intervention will receive a course certificate. Students not fulfilling all of these criteria will have the possibility to complete the program and/or re-do the test after the end of the study.

In the standard course or control group, students will participate in a 2.5-day course in abdominal ultrasound, comprising 5 hours of lectures and 16 hours of ultrasound training in small groups, with a maximum of 4 students per group. The course will be held in an ultrasound training centre in Bern. All students within the standard course group that participated in the whole 2.5 day course and passed a predefined total score in the test directly after the intervention will receive a course certificate. Students not fulfilling all of these criteria will have the possibility to complete the program and/or re-do the test after the end of the study.