Medical Student Mentorship in the COVID-19 Era

BackgroundThe Covid-19 pandemic led to a reduction of in-person, guided mentorship due to social distancing and an emphasis on virtual meetings. The effect of these changes on medical students' experiences and specialty choice has yet to be studied in a large-scale manner.ObjectiveTo determine the perspective of third- and fourth-year medical students regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mentorship.DesignThe authors distributed a modified Likert scale questionnaire (score: 1-10) to assess responses.ParticipantsThird- and fourth-year medical students at two large US allopathic medical schools.Main MeasuresResponses to each survey item were analyzed to characterize the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mentorship relationships in medical school. A score of 1-5 was considered "disagree" and a score of 6-10 was considered "agree."Key ResultsA total of 144 responses were collected with a response rate of 16.2%. Overall, 80.6% (n = 116) of respondents agree that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on their medical school experience. Nearly half (41.0%, n = 59) expressed concern over the lack of mentorship opportunities, and 66.0% (n = 95) reported that the pandemic has made it more difficult to form or maintain connections with their mentors. Importantly, 43.6% (n = 61) of respondents reported that having close mentoring relationships reduced the impact of the pandemic on their medical training. While many respondents (79.9%, n = 114) did not change career plans due to the pandemic, most students are concerned about evaluating prospective residency programs (88.9%, n = 128). Notably, M3s have much lower confidence than M4s in their ability to choose a specialty (5.9 vs. 8.2, p = 6.43e - 08).ConclusionsThis investigation illustrates the concerns that medical students have regarding access to mentorship opportunities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope that these findings encourage medical schools to evaluate and expand their current mentorship programs.