Students experiences of peer-support during a Master’s thesis process

Abstract

Working as an expert in health care requires peer-support skills. The aim of the study is to describe students’ (n = 8) experiences of peer-support from other students during their Master’s thesis process. This study was a qualitative and the data (n = 29) was collected from the students through a number of repeated open questions during one year. The data were analysed by a qualitative content analysis. The results show that students both received and gave individual and mental peer-support during their Master’s thesis process. The results also show that students need to be active in peer-support group such as to share ideas, to discuss openly and to read peers thesis. The peer-support helped the students to formulate research plan and think more critically based on others students’ feedback. Peer-support received in a group can help increase opportunities for learning working life skills for Master’s thesis students, but further research is needed. More widely in health care, it is important to be aware of the existence of peer-support and discuss how it can be promoted.