What is the role of near-peer mentoring in informing medical students about a career in general practice?

Abstract

Near-peer learning at undergraduate level has the potential to introduce students to a career in general practice. The Wass Report suggested the need to provide enthusiastic role models within general practice, and this was the stimulus for the introduction of a near-peer general practitioner (GP) mentoring scheme at University College London (UCL) Medical School.The UCL Medical School GP mentoring scheme was introduced in the academic year of 2019 enlisting UCL GP training scheme doctors to pair up with UCL medical students to meet face-to-face and discuss a career in general practice. Following the end of the scheme, a mix of focus groups and semi-structured interviews were used to provide an insight into the students' experiences of the mentoring scheme.This evaluation focused on the perceptions, experiences and insights of the medical students who participated in the GP near-peer mentoring scheme and considered their views about a career within general practice. The evaluation considered the students' perceptions of their trainee as a role-model figure.

Keywords: Near-peer; career; general practice; mentoring.