Professional identity formation amongst peer-mentors in a research-based mentoring programme.

BackgroundMentoring plays a pivotal yet poorly understood role in shaping a physician's professional identity formation (PIF) or how they see, feel and act as professionals. New theories posit that mentoring nurtures PIF by functioning as a community of practice through its structured approach and its support of a socialisation process made possible by its assessment-directed personalized support. To test this theory and reshape the design, employ and support of mentoring programs, we evaluate peer-mentor experiences within the Palliative Medicine Initiative's structured research mentoring program.MethodsSemi-structured interviews with peer mentors under the Palliative Medicine Initiative (PMI) at National Cancer Centre Singapore were conducted and triangulated against mentoring diaries to capture longitudinal data of their PMI experiences. The Systematic Evidence-Based Approach (SEBA) was adopted to enhance the trustworthiness of the data. SEBA employed concurrent content and thematic analysis of the data to ensure a comprehensive review. The Jigsaw Perspective merged complementary themes and categories identified to create themes/categories. The themes/categories were compared with prevailing studies on mentoring in the Funnelling Process to reaffirm their accuracy.ResultsTwelve peer-mentors participated in the interviews and eight peer-mentors completed the mentoring diaries. The domains identified were community of practice and identity work.ConclusionsThe PMI's structured mentoring program functions as a community of practice supporting the socialisation process which shapes the peer-mentor's belief system. Guided by a structured mentoring approach, stage-based assessments, and longitudinal mentoring and peer support, peer-mentors enhance their detection and evaluation of threats to their regnant belief system and adapt their self-concepts of identity and personhood to suit their context. These insights will help structure and support mentoring programs as they nurture PIF beyond Palliative Medicine

Assessing the effects of a mentoring program on professional identity formation.

BackgroundMedical education has enjoyed mixed fortunes nurturing professional identity formation (PIF), or how medical students think, feel and act as physicians. New data suggests that structured mentoring programs like the Palliative Medicine Initiative (PMI) may offer a means of developing PIF in a consistent manner. To better understand how a well-established structured research mentoring program shapes PIF, a study of the experiences of PMI mentees is proposed.MethodologyAcknowledging PIF as a sociocultural construct, a Constructivist approach and Relativist lens were adopted for this study. In the absence of an effective tool, the Ring Theory of Personhood (RToP) and Krishna-Pisupati Model (KPM) model were used to direct this dual Systematic Evidence-Based Approach (Dual-SEBA) study in designing, employing and analysing semi-structured interviews with PMI mentees and mentoring diaries. These served to capture changes in PIF over the course of the PMI's mentoring stages. Transcripts of the interviews and mentoring diaries were concurrently analysed using content and thematic analysis. Complementary themes and categories identified from the Split Approach were combined using the Jigsaw Approach and subsequently compared with mentoring diaries in the Funnelling Process. The domains created framed the discussion.ResultsA total of 12 mentee interviews and 17 mentoring diaries were analysed, revealing two domains-PMI as a Community of Practice (CoP) and Identity Formation. The domains confirmed the centrality of a structured CoP capable of facilitating longitudinal mentoring support and supporting the Socialisation Process along the mentoring trajectory whilst cultivating personalised and enduring mentoring relationships.ConclusionThe provision of a consistent mentoring approach and personalised, longitudinal mentoring support guided along the mentoring trajectory by structured mentoring assessments lay the foundations for more effective mentoring programs. The onus must now be on developing assessment tools, such as a KPM-based tool, to guide support and oversight of mentoring relationships

Understanding mentoring relationships between mentees, peer and senior mentors

Abstract Background Mentoring relationships play a critical but poorly understood role in mentoring’s overall success. To overcome these knowledge gaps, a study of mentee experiences in the Palliative Medicine Initiative, a structured research-based mentoring program, is proposed. The program’s clearly described mentoring approach, competency-based mentoring stages and curated mentoring environment ensure a consistent mentoring experience. It provides a unique platform to study mentoring relationships longitudinally and its implications on professional identity formation. Methodology The Tool Design Systematic Evidence-Based Approach methodology is used to map and employ current understanding. A review of recent reviews on mentoring processes, mentoring’s effects, professional identity formation and professional identity formation assessment tools lay the foundation for the design of semi-structured interviews and mentoring diaries to evaluate the characteristics of successful mentoring relationships and mentoring’s impact on professional identity formation. The data accrued from these tools were evaluated using this methodology whilst changes in professional identity formation were assessed using the Ring Theory of Personhood. Results The semi-structured interviews revealed four themes: stakeholders, mentoring stages, mentoring relationships and professional identity formation whilst the mentoring diaries revealed two: mentoring processes and mentoring relationships. Two final domains emerged – mentoring relationships and professional identity formation. Conclusions The Palliative Medicine Initiative’s structured stage-based mentoring approach, trained stakeholders, curated environment, assessment-directed and personalized mentoring support reveal seven developmental stages of mentoring relationships. These culminate in changes to the values, beliefs and principles that shape how mentees see, feel and act as professionals. These findings suggest that mentoring programs may help to further develop and fine-tune their professional identity formation. </jats:sec

Understanding mentoring relationships between mentees, peer and senior mentors

Abstract Background Mentoring relationships play a critical but poorly understood role in mentoring’s overall success. To overcome these knowledge gaps, a study of mentee experiences in the Palliative Medicine Initiative, a structured research-based mentoring program, is proposed. The program’s clearly described mentoring approach, competency-based mentoring stages and curated mentoring environment ensure a consistent mentoring experience. It provides a unique platform to study mentoring relationships longitudinally and its implications on professional identity formation. Methodology The Tool Design Systematic Evidence-Based Approach methodology is used to map and employ current understanding. A review of recent reviews on mentoring processes, mentoring’s effects, professional identity formation and professional identity formation assessment tools lay the foundation for the design of semi-structured interviews and mentoring diaries to evaluate the characteristics of successful mentoring relationships and mentoring’s impact on professional identity formation. The data accrued from these tools were evaluated using this methodology whilst changes in professional identity formation were assessed using the Ring Theory of Personhood. Results The semi-structured interviews revealed four themes: stakeholders, mentoring stages, mentoring relationships and professional identity formation whilst the mentoring diaries revealed two: mentoring processes and mentoring relationships. Two final domains emerged – mentoring relationships and professional identity formation. Conclusions The Palliative Medicine Initiative’s structured stage-based mentoring approach, trained stakeholders, curated environment, assessment-directed and personalized mentoring support reveal seven developmental stages of mentoring relationships. These culminate in changes to the values, beliefs and principles that shape how mentees see, feel and act as professionals. These findings suggest that mentoring programs may help to further develop and fine-tune their professional identity formation

A Systematic Scoping Review of Communication Skills Training in Medical Schools between 2000 and 2020

10.1080/0142159X.2022.2054693Medical Teacher449997-100