Peer discussion and peer review

Peer review and peer discussion – what is the difference?

Peer review and peer discussion are broadly similar activities involving discussion of cases with other practitioners, but the GOC defines them slightly differently.  Both are great ways to learn. 

• A peer review group is normally a regular group of practitioners meeting to discuss their own real cases from practice, with one of the group nominated to organise the session and take responsibility for any CET administration. There is no separate facilitator role in a peer review so everyone in the group participates in the case discussion in the same way.
   
• A peer discussion group normally involves a structured case-based discussion using pre-prepared example cases, led by a facilitator who is focussed on steering the discussion rather than participating. Peer discussion often involves several groups discussing at the same time, with a facilitator on each table.

Case studies for members

Use the case studies in this section for your own peer discussions. They have all been written by the College based on real life situations encountered in everyday practice, and they’ve been tried and tested at our peer discussion events.

Facilitation

A facilitator's role is to help a peer discussion group achieve its objectives, make sure it has the resources it needs, and encourage and support the group members. The group has responsibility for the content of the discussion and the facilitator manages the process.