Abstract
Background Public health education increasingly emphasizes experiential learning and community engagement. Peer review complements traditional staff assessment, enhancing learning outcomes and refining teaching strategies. This study aims to investigate the perceptions and experiences of medical students with peer assessment of community health projects. Staff assessment for the same projects will be used for Comparison.Methods A cross-sectional survey study involving medical students from the epidemiology and community health course at the College of Medicine, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU). Students assessed their peers' community health projects using a self-administered questionnaire. Staff evaluations were also compared. Data was analyzed by IBM SPSS 29.Results The study included 187 participants, primarily medical students (98.3%), who evaluated 20 community health projects. Additionally, three teaching staff members also rated the same projects. Medical students ranked effort expended (4.34), topic importance (4.26), and obvious participation (4.26) in descending order of value. The staff evaluated the relevance of the topic as the highest (4.43), but they rated the tools as lower (3.9). Medical students ranked tools sufficiency significantly higher with mean of (4.16 vs. 3.90) than staff (p < 0.05). Both groups evaluated the project's level of innovation and the clarity of its target audience in a comparable manner. The analysis of the Full Project Level indicated that there was no substantial disparity between medical students and staff, as evidenced by the p-value of 0.920.Conclusion This study validates that peer assessment of student projects is equally effective as assessment conducted by faculty members. Consequently, it is justifiable to allocate resources towards enhancing peer students' learning and assessment capabilities.