Formal mentoring programmes for medical students and doctors – a review of the Medline literature

Abstract

Mentoring programmes have been implemented as a specific career-advancement tool in the training and further education of various groups in the medical profession. The main focus of our investigation was to examine what types of structured mentoring programmes exist for doctors as well as for medical students, what short- and long-term goals these projects pursue, and whether statements can be made on the effectiveness and efficiency of these programmes. A literature-search strategy was applied to Medline for 1966-2002 using the keyword combinations: (a) mentor* [AND] program* [AND] medical students, and (b) mentor* [AND] program* [AND] physicians. Although a total of 162 publications were identified, only 16 papers (nine for medical students and seven for doctors) met the selected methodological criteria. The majority of the programmes lack a concrete structure as well as a short- and long-term evaluation. Main goals are to increase professional competence in research and in further specialization and to build up a professional network for the mentees; no statements are to be found on the advantages for the mentors. Programme evaluation is for the most part presented descriptively in terms of great interest and high level of satisfaction. No publication contains statements on the effectiveness or the efficiency of the programme. Although the results of mentoring are promising, more formal programmes with clear setup goals and a short- and long-term evaluation of the individual successes of the participants as well as the cost-benefit analysis are needed.

Mentoring: uma vivência de humanização e desenvolvimento no curso médico

“…Outros sugeriram a diminuição da carga horária da atividade e vivenciaram a obrigatoriedade como negativa. Vale dizer que não há um consenso sobre a melhor forma de participação dos alunos em programas de mentoring, existindo aqueles formatados para a obrigatoriedade 17,32,33 , aqueles que trabalham com incentivos 34 , e outros totalmente voluntários 4,6,9 .…”

“…Escolas médicas desenvolvem programas de mentoring com diferentes objetivos, como: a adaptação ao ambiente acadêmico, o estímulo a áreas de atuação específica, o acolhimento a demandas específicas de grupos minoritários, além da ampliação da rede de relações acadêmicas e profissionais [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] . Podendo adotar diferentes formatos, é fundamental que a atividade respeite as necessidades e os objetivos do corpo discente e docente e busque a participação ativa dos envolvidos 6,11 .…”

“…Podendo adotar diferentes formatos, é fundamental que a atividade respeite as necessidades e os objetivos do corpo discente e docente e busque a participação ativa dos envolvidos 6,11 .…”

A Systematic Review of Qualitative Research on the Meaning and Characteristics of Mentoring in Academic Medicine

“…This lack of clarity has consequences in practice-oriented disciplines, where the development of programs is based on assumptions about the meaning and effectiveness of mentoring. 5,9 Expert panels have made attempts to clarify the concept of mentoring in academic medicine, 10,11 and authors have compiled narrative literature reviews [12][13][14] or offered personal views 15 on the desirable characteristics of mentoring relationships. Such approaches would be enriched by exploring the personal experience of mentoring as obtained through qualitative research methodologies.…”

Identifying barriers to successful research during medical school

“…3 The problem is widespread as even in residency, few programs provide a dedicated curriculum and possess the resources needed to support research, 2,4 despite the fact that such support provided to researchers advances the expansion of professional skills. [5][6][7][8] An environment supportive of research can lead to increased productivity. 6,9,10 Mentorship appears to be an especially critical form of support as it can enhance personal and professional development, 11 career satisfaction, 11 medical student career advancement, 12,13 and research efforts.…”