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
. 2024 Nov 27;24(1):1380.
doi: 10.1186/s12909-024-06357-3.

A systematic scoping review of mentoring support on professional identity formation

Lalit Kumar Radha Krishna #  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8 , Hannah Yi Fang Kwok #  9   10 , Nila Ravindran  11   9 , Xuan Yu Tan  11   9 , Jasper Soh  11   9 , Darius Wei Jun Wan  11   9 , Varsha Rajalingam  11   9 , Jun Kiat Lua  11   9 , Elizabeth Yong Mei Leong  9   10 , Tiat Yan Low  11   9 , Aiden Wei-Jun Chan  11   9 , Chong Jin Nicholas Lim  11   9 , Yen Kit Ng  11   9 , Arthena Anushka Thenpandiyan  11   9 , Adele Yi Dawn Lim  11   9 , Leia Ning Tse  11   9 , Sriram Pl  11   9 , Sri Priyanka Rajanala  11   9 , Jun Rey Leong  11   9 , Elaine Li Ying Quah  11   9 , Victoria Jia En Fam  12   13 , Ranitha Govindasamy  11   12   14 , Nur Amira Binte Abdul Hamid  12 , Crystal Lim  15 , Dorsett Shin Wei Sim  16 , Eng Koon Ong  9   12   17   18 , Stephen Mason  19 , Nagavalli Somasundaram  12   17   20 , Simon Yew Kuang Ong  12   17   20
Affiliations

A systematic scoping review of mentoring support on professional identity formation

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

Abstract

Background: Mentoring's success in nurturing professional identity formation (PIF) has been attributed to its ability to build personalised and enduring mentoring relationships. However, beyond functioning as communities of practice (CoPs) supporting socialisation processes, how mentoring integrates programme values and instils a shared identity amongst mentees remains unclear. The need for personalised guidance and timely attention to a mentee's unique needs in evolving mentoring relationships point to the critical role of support mechanisms ('mentoring support'). We conducted a systematic scoping review (SSR) studying "What is known about mentoring support's role in nurturing PIF?".

Methods: Adopting PRISMA-ScR guidelines, this SSR was guided by the Systematic Evidence-Based Approach (SEBA). Independent searches were carried out on publications featured between 1st January 2000 and 30th June 2023 in PubMed, Embase, ERIC and Scopus databases. The Split Approach saw concurrent, independent thematic and content analyses of the included articles. The Jigsaw Perspective combined complementary themes and categories, creating broader themes/categories. The subsequent Funnelling Process formed key domains that platformed the synthesis of the discussion.

Results: Two thousand three hundred forty-one abstracts were reviewed, 323 full-text articles were appraised and 151 articles were included and analysed. The key domains identified were (1) definitions and roles; (2) personalisation; (3) shepherding; and (4) PIF.

Conclusion: The success of mentoring in PIF lies in its ability to blend role modelling, supervision, mentoring, coaching and teaching, with self-care, guided reflection, apprenticeship and assessment to meet the individual needs of the mentee and their changing circumstances. Blending the contents of the mentoring umbrella emphasises the critical role of the mentor and host organisation in supporting mentor training, communications, support and assessment mechanisms. Mentee engagement and its active role in support measures complement the CoP-like mentoring programme's use of blending mentoring support to advance the socialisation process. These insights reflect a complex interactive process scaffolding the development of mentoring relationships and PIF. The effect of the mentoring umbrella on clinical practice requires further study.

Keywords: Apprenticeship; Coaching; Medical schools; Medicine; Mentor; Mentoring; Mentoring relationships; Mentoring support; Professional identity formation; Role modelling; Supervision.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: Not applicable. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The Ring Theory of Personhood
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The Krishna-Pisupati Model for Professional Identity Formation
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The Systematic Evidenced-Based Approach (SEBA)
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
PRISMA Flowchart
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
A heat map of the impact of key elements of the Mentoring Umbrella on the Individual, Relational and Societal rings
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Adapted Krishna-Pisupati Model of the Mentor’s Role in the Blending of PAL Mentoring Support. This process is guided by the mentoring approach, belief systems, shared identity and the mentee’s current self-concepts of identity and personhood, narratives, individual and contextual considerations, congruence and social validations, mentoring resources, as well as the mentoring environment within the community of practice
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
The Mentoring Structure, its Key Elements and its Intertwined Relationships
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Krishna LKR, Tan LHE, Ong YT, Tay KT, Hee JM, Chiam M, et al. Enhancing mentoring in palliative care: an evidence based mentoring framework. J Med Educ Curric Dev. 2020;7:2382120520957649. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Krishna LKR, Pisupati A, Ong YT, Teo KJH, Teo MYK, Venktaramana V, et al. Assessing the effects of a mentoring program on professional identity formation. BMC Med Educ. 2023;23(1):799. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Krishna LKR, Pisupati A, Teo KJH, Teo MYK, Quek CWN, Chua KZY, et al. Professional identity formation amongst peer-mentors in a research-based mentoring programme. BMC Med Educ. 2023;23(1):787. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lin J, Chew YR, Toh YP, Krishna LKR. Mentoring in nursing: an integrative review of commentaries, editorials, and perspectives papers. Nurse Educ. 2018;43(1):E1–5. - PubMed
    1. Toh YP, Karthik R, Teo CC, Suppiah S, Cheung SL, Krishna LKR. Toward mentoring in palliative social work: a narrative review of mentoring programs in social work. Am J Hosp Palliat Care. 2018;35(3):523–31. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources