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
Review
. 2021 Apr 13;31(2):969-977.
doi: 10.1007/s40670-021-01252-8. eCollection 2021 Apr.

A Global Perspective of Mentorship in Medical Schools: Systematic Review from 2014 to 2019

Aaron M Atlas #  1 , Emily S Seltzer #  1 , Andrea Watters  1 , Bernadette Riley  1 , Thomas Chan  1
Affiliations
Review

A Global Perspective of Mentorship in Medical Schools: Systematic Review from 2014 to 2019

Aaron M Atlas et al. Med Sci Educ. .

Abstract

Formal mentorship programs afford medical students research involvement, career guidance, and personal and professional development. We reviewed a total of 36 studies on mentorship in medical schools, 17 of which are from the United States (US) and 19 from outside the US. This descriptive study has determined the most common mentorship models used in medical schools both in the United States and internationally. Despite variance between programs, medical students in the US and worldwide prefer highly invested mentors with strong interpersonal skills. We concluded that both US and international mentorship provide crucial professional development for students; however, US-based mentorship is more focused on providing experience within individual specialties. More studies on current mentorship practices in medical schools are required to ensure that the diverse international medical education community is better represented.

Keywords: Medical school; Medical student; Mentee; Mentor; Mentorship.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
PubMed, Cochrane, and Ovid databases were queried using the inclusion and exclusion criteria shown. A total of 36 articles were selected using this algorithm
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Buddeberg-Fischer B, Herta KD. Formal mentoring programmes for medical students and doctors—a review of the Medline literature. Med Teach. 2006;28(3):248–257. doi: 10.1080/01421590500313043. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Frei E, Stamm M, Buddeberg-Fischer B. Mentoring programs for medical students—a review of the PubMed literature 2000–2008. BMC Med Educ. 2010;10(1):32. doi: 10.1186/1472-6920-10-32. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Fornari A, Murray TS, Menzin AW, Woo VA, Clifton M, Lombardi M, et al. Mentoring program design and implementation in new medical schools. Med Educ Online. 2014;19(1):24570. doi: 10.3402/meo.v19.24570. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Accreditation of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine: COM Accreditation Standards and Procedures. osteopathic.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/com-accreditation-standards-8... 2016. Accessed.
    1. LCME Accreditation Standards.: www.iaomc.org/lcme.htm 2003. Accessed.

LinkOut - more resources