Perception of Medical students for Faculty and Peer Mentorship program: An Exploratory study from North-Western India

Purpose: Mentoring programs have been found effective for improving academic, behavioral, emotional and social outcome of youth. In view of scarce research among medical graduates, this study was planned to assess the perception of medical students for faculty and peer mentorship program. Methods: First and second year Medical students (n=162) were recruited through total enumeration method. Semi-structured questionnaire was used to assess their perception of faculty and peer mentorship program in terms of perceived benefits, barriers and commonly discussed topics during mentorship meetings. Results: Majority of students appreciated the facilitating role of faculty and peer mentors in their personal and professional development. Majority of faculty and peer mentors were considered supportive, understanding, helpful, and caring. Their discussions were commonly focused on educational and general life issues and most frequent barrier in meetings were related to logistics, lack of time and motivation. Conclusion: In our study majority of medical students expressed positive perceptions about faculty and peer mentoring. Comprehensive evaluation of mentoring is essential for strengthening the mentoring programs for holistic development of medical students.