Evaluation of a Novel Mentorship Programme for Medical Students in Paediatrics

Benita Morrissey

Paul Winyard

Caroline Fertleman

April 2015

Overview

• Background and context

• Our mentoring programme

• Evaluation and lessons learnt

Medical Students

• Medical school stressful for many students

• Higher levels of anxiety and depression

• Reluctance to access support services

Hope V et al. Medical school depression, anxiety and distress outside North America: a systematic review. Medical Education 2014; 48: 963-979

Fertleman C et al. Protecting students and promoting resilience. BMJ 2013; 347:f5266

Mentoring Programmes for Medical Students

“Everyone who makes it has a mentor”

•Mentorship can:– Provide increased support to medical students– Improve their academic performance and well-being– Increase research productivity

Budderberg-Fischer B et al. Formal mentoring programmes for medical students and doctors – a review of Medline literature. Medical Teacher 2006; 28(3): 248-257.Frei et al. Mentoring programs for medical students – a review of PubMed literature 2000-2008. BMC medical education 2010: 10(32)

The iBSc in Paediatrics and Child Health

• The first BSc in the UK in paediatrics and child health

• Complements the undergraduate placement

• Emphasis on the ‘patient journey,’ health systems for children, reflective practice and research

Programme Design

• Mentoring programme between:– medical students doing BSc in paediatrics (mentees)– paediatric trainees competitively selected (mentors)

• Matching of mentees with mentors• Three meetings over year (with e-mail contact in between)• Structured feedback questionnaire (survey monkey) e-mailed to

mentees and mentors at end of year • Mentees provided individualized anonymised feedback to their

mentor at end of programme

Eisen et al. Peer mentoring: evaluation of a novel programme in paediatrics. Archives Disease Childhood 2014; 99: 142-146

Training and Support for Mentors• Mentorship training evening for all mentors

• Ground rules developed by mentors• Updates e-mailed to mentors monthly• Catch-up evening after three months• Mentors all invited to end-of year BSc party

What is mentoring?How can you be an effective mentor?

What is the BSc in paediatrics?What to cover in sessions?

What should you do if you need help?

Evaluation of the Programme: Mentees

• How did you find the mentoring programme?– 43% (3/7) very helpful– 43% (3/7) a bit helpful– 13% (1/7) not helpful

• Would you recommend it to other students?– Yes 87% (6/7)– No 13% (1/7)

What did mentees gain?

• Personal support• Feedback on assessments

– “Excellent feedback that helped me to improve upon my first attempts at certain assessments”

• Guidance on paediatrics as a career– “A greater understanding of the paediatric doctor training programme

and what a career in paediatrics entails”

• Advice on life issues outside medicine– “Helped me with life issues- like not knowing how to cook”

Having a qualified doctor toprovide support to me.

Evaluation of the programme: Mentors

Do you think that being a mentor for iBSc students has been helpful for your future career and practice in paediatrics?

Yes – 87.5% (7/8)

Maybe – 12.5% (1/8)

100% of mentors would recommend the programme to their colleagues

What did mentors gain?

• Skills and experience in mentorship • Practice providing support to junior colleagues

– “Very helpful for future roles such as becoming an educational or clinical supervisor”

• Understanding the undergraduate experience better– “It was great to connect with medical students, understand the

challenges they face and see their enthusiasm”

• Seeing paediatrics through fresh eyes

It gave me a lot of satisfaction.

Fellows et al. Mentoring for paediatricians – need and support for a national framework. ADC 2014.

Challenges

• Finding time to meet up• Worrying the students found it useful• Limited knowledge of the course structure and

requirements• Students focused on assessments and exams

Conclusions

• A novel mentorship programme offered benefits to both medical students and paediatric trainees

• Mentors developed transferable skills in mentorship and supervision (competencies in paediatric training curriculum)

• Mentors found it very rewarding and satisfying

• Effects on medical school performance, well-being, and career choices harder to measure

Thank you to the mentors and mentees who took part in the

programme

Correspondence:Benita.morrissey@nhs.net