Introduction of an Online Mentoring Program for Final Professional MBBS Students

Abstract

Background: Mentoring helps in the personal and professional development of mentees and helps them develop self-confidence in their work. Final-year undergraduate medical students face many challenges but they also have to gain the confidence to start working independently and plan their careers in the near future. In the coronavirus disease scenario, many of these challenges were amplified, and final-year students were in greater need of mentoring. Even though mentoring had been introduced under the new curriculum in 2019, formal online mentoring programs were nonexistent in most Indian medical colleges. Therefore, it was aimed to implement and evaluate an online mentoring program for final-year undergraduate medical students.

Materials and methods: This prospective study was conducted with 16 mentees allotted to the principal researcher. A needs assessment survey was conducted before finalizing the program. A mentoring module was designed, and subsequently, five rounds of individual mentoring sessions were conducted on "Google Meets." Feedback was obtained from the mentees and analyzed.

Results: Most mentees (93.8%) agreed that an online mentoring program should be introduced. The mentees were satisfied with the online mentoring program (5-point Likert Scale; median = 4) and felt that they had received motivation and gained confidence to overcome challenges. The majority of the respondents (80%) felt supported during mentoring, whereas 86.67% agreed that they were able to harness their positive attributes and started working toward their goals.

Conclusions: The online mentorship program was successful in improving the confidence of the medical students in dealing with academic and nonacademic issues.

Keywords: Mentoring; mentors; professionalism; time management.

Figure 1

Mentees’ opinion regarding the focus area(s) of the online mentoring program (as per the needs assessment survey) (n = 16)

Figure 2

Mentees’ opinion regarding their overall experience with the online mentoring program (n = 15)

Figure 3

Mentees’ feedback regarding the online mentoring sessions (n = 15)

Figure 4

Mentees’ opinion when asked whether they feel supported and confident to face challenges and start working toward their goal after attending the mentoring sessions (n = 15)