BACKGROUND: Mentoring is known to develop professional attributes and facilitate socialization into a profession. Only a few structured mentoring programmes for medical students have been reported in the literature. AIM: The objective of this study was to investigate undergraduate medical students' experiences and perceptions of one-to-one mentoring and whether they felt that the mentorship promoted their personal and professional development. METHODS: Medical students (n = 118) during their third and fourth years of their studies were offered a personal mentor for 2 years and followed up via a questionnaire when the mentoring programme was completed. Statistical software was used to compute data. Open-ended questions were analyzed by content analysis. RESULTS: Most of the respondents experienced that the mentoring programme had facilitated their professional and personal development. The role of the mentor was experienced as being more supportive than supplying knowledge. The students appreciated talking to a faculty not connected with their courses. The few barriers to a successful mentorship were mainly related to timing logistics and 'personal chemistry'. CONCLUSIONS: One-to-one mentoring during clinical courses seems to enhance the medical student's professional and personal development. Future studies are needed to get a deeper understanding and knowledge about factors of importance for successful mentorship.
BACKGROUND: Mentoring is known to develop professional attributes and facilitate socialization into a profession. Only a few structured mentoring programmes for medical students have been reported in the literature. AIM: The objective of this study was to investigate undergraduate medical students' experiences and perceptions of one-to-one mentoring and whether they felt that the mentorship promoted their personal and professional development. METHODS: Medical students (n = 118) during their third and fourth years of their studies were offered a personal mentor for 2 years and followed up via a questionnaire when the mentoring programme was completed. Statistical software was used to compute data. Open-ended questions were analyzed by content analysis. RESULTS: Most of the respondents experienced that the mentoring programme had facilitated their professional and personal development. The role of the mentor was experienced as being more supportive than supplying knowledge. The students appreciated talking to a faculty not connected with their courses. The few barriers to a successful mentorship were mainly related to timing logistics and 'personal chemistry'. CONCLUSIONS: One-to-one mentoring during clinical courses seems to enhance the medical student's professional and personal development. Future studies are needed to get a deeper understanding and knowledge about factors of importance for successful mentorship.
Authors: Cheryl Shumin Kow; Yao Hao Teo; Yao Neng Teo; Keith Zi Yuan Chua; Elaine Li Ying Quah; Nur Haidah Binte Ahmad Kamal; Lorraine Hui En Tan; Clarissa Wei Shuen Cheong; Yun Ting Ong; Kuang Teck Tay; Min Chiam; Stephen Mason; Lalit Kumar Radha Krishna Journal: BMC Med Educ Date: 2020-07-31 Impact factor: 2.463