Perception of Undergraduate Medical Students Regarding Mentorship in Medical Education

Abstract

Introduction: Although there is a definite need of mentorship in medical education, there is lack of well organised mentorship program in medical institutions in our country. It is essential to identify the perception of medical undergraduates regarding mentorship. Aim: To assess the student’s perception regarding mentoring at different stages of their studies. Materials and Methods: A Questionnaire based observational study was carried out on second year MBBS regular batch students. Enrollment of the students for study was purely on voluntary basis after taking informed consent. All the study participants were given 30 minutes for filling of questionnaire which was predesigned, structured and validated. The collected data were entered in Microsoft excel and analysed accordingly. Results: A total of 203 students participated in the study. Out of these, 173 (85.2%) students felt that mentorship is guiding the students. About 81 students (39.9%) strongly agreed that mentorship is a relationship rather than set of activities. About 198 students (98%) felt that there is a definite need of mentorship in medical education. About 151 students (74.4%) felt that contact session with mentor should be done as and when required but definitely more before exam. About 181 students (89.6%) felt comfortable if mentor had expectations from them. Conclusion: Almost all students perceived that there is definite need of mentorship in medical education with subject expertise; availability and nature of mentor were given priority in choosing mentor. Perception regarding frequency and place of meeting for mentorship varied widely among students. Through this study we came to know about the perception of medical undergraduates which will be helpful to identify their expectations from the mentor.