A peer mentoring initiative across medical residency programs

Purpose Several studies have shown benefits of peer mentoring on wellness among medical students and health care professionals. Peer mentorship has also been pointed as having interesting potential for International Medical Graduates. However, the literature on peer mentoring at the residency level is very limited. The purpose of this paper is to assess the benefits of a resident-led pilot peer-mentoring initiative at McGill University. Design/methodology/approach Over 2 years, 17 residents from various residency programs were put in contact with a volunteer peer mentor by e-mail. The structure of the mentorship was flexible. A survey using Likert scale and free text responses was sent to all the participants. Findings There were response rates of 65 percent for mentees and 59 percent for mentors. The majority of mentees thought the service was either moderately helpful (18 percent) or helpful (36 percent). Several residents noted that communication by e-mails and lack of in-person contacts were a limitation in the mentorship experience. The most frequent challenge that led to consult the service was immigration or arrival from another province. Originality/value The results show that the program can be helpful to medical residents, is cost-effective, flexible and could be adapted and replicated elsewhere. In the future, the program will adjust to tend toward a more structured frame, highlighting the importance of in-person contacts. The small sample size of participants and the recall bias are some limitations of our study.