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. 2023 Oct 25;23(1):799.
doi: 10.1186/s12909-023-04748-6.

Assessing the effects of a mentoring program on professional identity formation

Lalit Kumar Radha Krishna  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9 , Anushka Pisupati  10   11   12 , Yun Ting Ong  10   11   12 , Kelly Jia Hui Teo  10   11   12 , Mac Yu Kai Teo  10   11   12 , Vaishnavi Venktaramana  10   11   12 , Chrystie Wan Ning Quek  10   11   12 , Keith Zi Yuan Chua  10   11   12 , Vijayprasanth Raveendran  10   11   12 , Harpreet Singh  10   11   12 , Sabine Lauren Chyi Hui Wong  10   11   12 , Victoria Wen Wei Ng  10   11   12 , Eleanor Kei Ying Loh  10   11   12 , Ting Ting Yeoh  13 , Jasmine Lerk Juan Owyong  12 , Min Chiam  12 , Eng Koon Ong  11   12   14   15   16 , Gillian Li Gek Phua  11   17 , Ruaraidh Hill  18 , Stephen Mason  19 , Simon Yew Kuang Ong  12   14   20
Affiliations

Assessing the effects of a mentoring program on professional identity formation

Lalit Kumar Radha Krishna et al. BMC Med Educ. .

Abstract

Background: Medical education has enjoyed mixed fortunes nurturing professional identity formation (PIF), or how medical students think, feel and act as physicians. New data suggests that structured mentoring programs like the Palliative Medicine Initiative (PMI) may offer a means of developing PIF in a consistent manner. To better understand how a well-established structured research mentoring program shapes PIF, a study of the experiences of PMI mentees is proposed.

Methodology: Acknowledging PIF as a sociocultural construct, a Constructivist approach and Relativist lens were adopted for this study. In the absence of an effective tool, the Ring Theory of Personhood (RToP) and Krishna-Pisupati Model (KPM) model were used to direct this dual Systematic Evidence-Based Approach (Dual-SEBA) study in designing, employing and analysing semi-structured interviews with PMI mentees and mentoring diaries. These served to capture changes in PIF over the course of the PMI's mentoring stages. Transcripts of the interviews and mentoring diaries were concurrently analysed using content and thematic analysis. Complementary themes and categories identified from the Split Approach were combined using the Jigsaw Approach and subsequently compared with mentoring diaries in the Funnelling Process. The domains created framed the discussion.

Results: A total of 12 mentee interviews and 17 mentoring diaries were analysed, revealing two domains-PMI as a Community of Practice (CoP) and Identity Formation. The domains confirmed the centrality of a structured CoP capable of facilitating longitudinal mentoring support and supporting the Socialisation Process along the mentoring trajectory whilst cultivating personalised and enduring mentoring relationships.

Conclusion: The provision of a consistent mentoring approach and personalised, longitudinal mentoring support guided along the mentoring trajectory by structured mentoring assessments lay the foundations for more effective mentoring programs. The onus must now be on developing assessment tools, such as a KPM-based tool, to guide support and oversight of mentoring relationships.

Keywords: Assessment; Community of practice; Education environment; Medicine; Mentoring; Palliative medicine; Personhood; Professional identity formation; Professionalism; Socialisation process.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The Ring Theory of Personhood [5]
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The adapted Krishna-Pisupati Model for professional identity formation [5]
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Adapted SEBA process
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Funnelling Process
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Mentee’s PIF Journey
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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