Purpose Medical schools increasingly rely on near-peer tutors for ultrasound teaching. We set out to compare the efficacy of a blended near-peer ultrasound teaching program to that of a faculty course in a randomized controlled trial. Methods 152 medical students received 21 hours of ultrasound teaching either by near-peer teachers or medical doctors. The near-peer course consisted of blended learning that included spaced repetition. The faculty-led course was the European common course for abdominal sonography. The primary outcome measurement was the students' ultrasound knowledge at month 6, assessed by structured examination (score 0 to 50). Secondary outcomes included scores at month 0 and changes in scores after the course. ResultsStudents in the near-peer group scored 37 points, and students in the faculty group scored 31 points six months after course completion. The difference of 5.99 points (95% CI 4.48;7.49) in favor of the near-peer group was significant (p<0.001). Scores immediately after the course were 3.8 points higher in the near-peer group (2.35; 5.25, p<0.001). Ultrasound skills decreased significantly in the six months after course completion in the faculty group (-2.41 points, [-3.39; -1.42], p<0.001]) but barely decreased in the near-peer group (-0.22 points, [-1.19; 0.75, p=0.66]). ConclusionThe near-peer course that combined blended learning and spaced repetition outperformed standard faculty teaching in basic ultrasound education. This study encourages medical schools to use peer teaching combined with e-learning and spaced repetition as an effective means to meet the increasing demand for ultrasound training. Explanation of all the instruments used in the data collection (including phrasing of items in surveys) Baseline Questionnaire, Exam Sheets OSCE 1, Questionnaire at OSCE 1, Exam Sheets OSCE 2, Questionnaire at OSCE 2. Items see separate table "Instrumente_SIGNATURE_v13" Explanation of the data files: what data is stored in what file? "Full data set" contains all the data from the 3 questionnaires and the 2 exams mentioned above. The second file "Instrumente_SIGNATURE_v13" explains the meaning of the columns in the data set In case of quantitative data: meaning and ranges or codings of all columns

See separate table "Instrumente_SIGNATURE_v13"