Joint Research Mentoring Through the Community of Young Research Peers: A Case for a Unifying Model for Research Mentorship at Higher Learning Institutions

Abstract

Background Mentorship is pivotal for sustainability of a successful research culture at higher learning institutions. Various models have been proposed for provision of research mentorship in health sciences but are challenged by utilizing predominantly hierarchical mentoring, as well as being centred on one discipline or one institution. This paper describes the approach and successes of an inclusive mentorship model employed in a resource-limited setting in sub-Saharan Africa. Methods Through the NIH-funded Transforming Health Professions Education in Tanzania (THET) project, a consortium of three prominent health sciences higher learning institutions in Tanzania (MUHAS, CUHAS and KCMUCo) and two collaborating US institutions (UCSF and Duke University) was formed. Within THET, the Community of Young Research Peers (CYRP) was constituted, comprised two cohorts of undergraduate students and young faculty (fellows), and senior scientists. Besides mentorship and research training, fellows received funded research awards and in turn mentored undergraduate students. Results By the first quarter of project year four, the number of fellows and mentored undergraduate students had increased from 12 to 24 and from 41 to 67, respectively. Fellows in the second cohort (junior fellows) included medical doctors, nurses, dentist, biomedical scientist, sociologist and education psychologist. In fostering peer-to-peer mentoring, the cross-institutional pairs of fellows from the first cohort (senior fellows) were assigned to reciprocal pairs of junior fellow mentees and took a leading role in research training. Furthermore, the senior fellows had made significant strides, including eight enrolled in PhD programmes, eight publications from mentored research projects, and six small to medium-size research grants won. Conclusion The unifying model of research mentorship employed by the CYRP has been demonstrated as an effective model for joint research mentorship of the diverse group of young investigators from collaborating higher learning institutions in Tanzania. This model is recommended for scale-up, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.

Mentorship in Health Research Institutions in Africa: A Systematic Review of Approaches, Benefits, Successes, Gaps and Challenges

“…We identified three key approaches from the included studies that have been used for mentoring health researchers in Africa. Broadly, we have categorized these into international collaborative programs (14–16, 19, 24, 33), regional and in-country collaborations (17, 18, 20, 23, 31), and specialized capacity building programs (21, 22, 25–28, 30, 32, 34).…”

“…The studies were from 12 different African countries including Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Africa, Malawi, Ghana, Liberia, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, and Lesotho. The primary studies used diverse methods which included qualitative designs (10 studies; 48%) (15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24), quantitative designs (9 studies; 43%) (25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33), and mixed methods (2 studies; (9%) (32,33).…”

“…The number of fellows increased from 12 to 24, and mentored graduates increased from 41 to 67 in the second cohort. Eight senior fellows enrolled in PhD programs, and 10 of 12 had registered for a PhD fellowship (31)(32)(33).…”

“…For instance, during the first two years of the program in Tanzania, various research articles from the mentored programs were published, with other manuscripts in the final stages of preparation. Each mentee had at least one or more manuscripts published or accepted for publication, and young peers shared authorship in at least one of the published articles (31)(32)(33). Various publications were also done in other different mentorship programs across various countries, with authorship being from multiinstitutional teams and submitted to international peer-reviewed scientific journals (23,24,(26)(27)(28).…”

Effect of Employee Mentoring on Performance of Universities in Tanzania

“…The average mean score implies that a higher number of respondents agreed that university performance in Tanzania is well measured with publications, enrolment, and graduation rates. Balandya et al, (2022) also used number of publications to gauge Tanzania's higher education best performance.…”