Enhancing faculty mentoring of medical students

Background: Mentors are important in the personal and professional development of medical students. Little is known about how the structure of a mentoring program impacts on student-faculty relationships. Description: To evaluate and compare 2 structurally different mentoring programs at Stanford University School of Medicine, students and faculty were surveyed to rate and characterize aspects of the student-mentor relationship and rate overall satisfaction with the program. Evaluation: More than 90% of respondents were satisfied with the new mentor program compared with 24% of those in the preceptor program. Students in the new program rated discussions as significantly more useful than those in the preceptor program. In selecting a mentor, faculty's clinical and research interests were more important criteria than gender or race. Students emphasized the need for more clinically-oriented mentors. Conclusions: Programs that allow students to select mentors based on shared personal and professional interests lead to greater satisfaction and potentially more effective mentoring.