Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Apr 16:18:1-3.
doi: 10.3402/meo.v18i0.20825.

Peer-mentoring junior surgical trainees in the United Kingdom: a pilot program

Paul Vulliamy  1 , Islam Junaid
Affiliations

Peer-mentoring junior surgical trainees in the United Kingdom: a pilot program

Paul Vulliamy et al. Med Educ Online. .

Abstract

Background: Peer-mentoring has attracted substantial interest in various healthcare professions, but has not been formally integrated into postgraduate surgical training. This study aimed to assess the feasibility and acceptability of a peer-mentor scheme among junior surgical trainees in the United Kingdom.

Method: Trainees entering the first year of core surgical training (CST) in a single postgraduate school of surgery were allocated a mentor in the second year of CST. Allocation was based on location of the initial clinical placement. An anonymised questionnaire regarding the mentorship scheme was sent to all participants in the third month following its introduction.

Results: 18 trainees participated in the scheme, of whom 12 (67%) responded to the questionnaire. All respondents had made contact with their allocated mentor or mentee, and no trainees had opted out of the scheme. Areas in which the mentees received guidance included examinations (83%), CV development (67%), and workplace-based assessments (67%). All respondents felt that the mentor scheme was a good addition to CST. Suggestions for improvement of the scheme included introduction of structured meetings and greater engagement with allocated mentors.

Conclusions: A pilot peer-mentoring scheme was well received by junior surgical trainees. Consideration should be given to expansion of this scheme and more rigorous assessment of its value.

Keywords: mentoring; peer-mentoring; postgraduate training; surgery.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Yeo H, Bucholz E, Ann Sosa J, Curry L, Lewis FR, Jr, Jones AT, et al. A national study of attrition in general surgery training: which residents leave and where do they go? Ann Surg. 2010;252:529–34. - PubMed
    1. Breen KJ, Hogan AM, Mealy K. The detrimental impact of the implementation of the European working time directive (EWTD) on surgical senior house officer (SHO) operative experience. Ir J Med Sci. 2013. Jan 4, Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23288473. - PubMed
    1. Giles JA. Surgical training and the European working time directive: the role of informal workplace learning. Int J Surg. 2010;8:179–80. - PubMed
    1. Carr AS, Munsch C, Buggle S, Hamilton P. Core surgical training and progression into specialty surgical training: how do we get the balance right? Ann R Coll Surg Engl. 2011;93:244–8.
    1. McCord JH, McDonald R, Sippel RS, Leverson G, Mahvi DM, Weber SM. Surgical career choices: the vital impact of mentoring. J Surg Res. 2009;155:136–41. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources