Mentoring for first year medical students: humanising medical education

Abstract

New entrants are vulnerable to the challenges of the medical course; mentoring programmes are known to offer support. This paper evaluated the experiences of students and faculty enrolled in a new mentoring programme. After needs analysis of students and faculty, a small-group mentoring programme for new medical students was initiated. Fifty-five volunteer faculty mentors were allocated two-three students each. At year-end, feedback using an open-ended questionnaire, revealed that there was no contact in one-third of the cases; the commonest reasons cited were lack of mentee initiative, time and commitment. Supportive mentors were appreciated. Over 95% of respondents believed that mentoring was a good idea; many believed the mentee benefitted; mentors also reported improved communication and affective skills; 60 (77.0%) mentees wanted to mentor new students the following year. Thus, mentoring of first-year students by faculty was effective, when contact occurred, in making the mentee feel supported. Mentoring may be a means of honing the affective domain and humanitarian instincts of medical faculty and students.