Medical students’ experiences of the benefits and influences regarding a placement mentoring programme preparing them for future practice as junior doctors: a qualitative study
Objective To study medical students’ views and experiences of the benefits and influences regarding a mentoring programme aimed at preparing them for future practice as a doctor during their Obstetrics and Gynaecology (O&G) placement in a UK teaching hospital.Design A qualitative approach, e...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMJ Publishing Group
2020-01-01
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| Series: | BMJ Open |
| Online Access: | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/1/e032643.full |
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| author | Ka Ying Bonnie Ng Siobhan Lynch Obinna Mba |
| author_facet | Ka Ying Bonnie Ng Siobhan Lynch Obinna Mba |
| author_sort | Ka Ying Bonnie Ng |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objective To study medical students’ views and experiences of the benefits and influences regarding a mentoring programme aimed at preparing them for future practice as a doctor during their Obstetrics and Gynaecology (O&G) placement in a UK teaching hospital.Design A qualitative approach, employing focus groups and thematic analysis.Setting Single-centre UK Teaching hospital.Participants Thirteen undergraduate medical students at the University of Southampton who had completed their standard 8-week placement in O&G and had been assigned a mentor throughout.Main outcome measures Medical students’ experiences and perceptions of the benefits and influences of having a mentor throughout their O&G placement.Results From our data, four central themes were identified: integration, feedback, seniority and expectations. Students found mentorship useful for integration into the team, and an opportunity for constructive feedback on their clinical skills and professional skills for example, communication and team-working. Seniority and the level of contact of their mentor was the main reason for differing mentoring experiences: although senior mentors spent less time with their mentees, they were able to offer more careers advice. Students felt that the mentors and mentees were not always clear on the expectations of the mentoring programme.Conclusions Mentorship may be a useful addition to help prepare students for future clinical practice. Mentor training may improve consistency of experiences. This study demonstrates that a mentoring programme is deliverable and widely accepted by medical students in a clinical placement such as O&G, and may have wider benefits if introduced on a regional/national level. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-596f3ba1f5664257903ad248bf4fa33a |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2044-6055 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Open |
| spelling | doaj-art-596f3ba1f5664257903ad248bf4fa33a2025-08-20T02:20:06ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552020-01-0110110.1136/bmjopen-2019-032643Medical students’ experiences of the benefits and influences regarding a placement mentoring programme preparing them for future practice as junior doctors: a qualitative studyKa Ying Bonnie Ng0Siobhan Lynch1Obinna Mba21 School of Human Development and Health, University of Southampton Faculty of Medicine, Southampton, UKMedical and Biological Sciences Building, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, UKDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Princess Anne Hospital, Southampton, Southampton, UKObjective To study medical students’ views and experiences of the benefits and influences regarding a mentoring programme aimed at preparing them for future practice as a doctor during their Obstetrics and Gynaecology (O&G) placement in a UK teaching hospital.Design A qualitative approach, employing focus groups and thematic analysis.Setting Single-centre UK Teaching hospital.Participants Thirteen undergraduate medical students at the University of Southampton who had completed their standard 8-week placement in O&G and had been assigned a mentor throughout.Main outcome measures Medical students’ experiences and perceptions of the benefits and influences of having a mentor throughout their O&G placement.Results From our data, four central themes were identified: integration, feedback, seniority and expectations. Students found mentorship useful for integration into the team, and an opportunity for constructive feedback on their clinical skills and professional skills for example, communication and team-working. Seniority and the level of contact of their mentor was the main reason for differing mentoring experiences: although senior mentors spent less time with their mentees, they were able to offer more careers advice. Students felt that the mentors and mentees were not always clear on the expectations of the mentoring programme.Conclusions Mentorship may be a useful addition to help prepare students for future clinical practice. Mentor training may improve consistency of experiences. This study demonstrates that a mentoring programme is deliverable and widely accepted by medical students in a clinical placement such as O&G, and may have wider benefits if introduced on a regional/national level.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/1/e032643.full |
| spellingShingle | Ka Ying Bonnie Ng Siobhan Lynch Obinna Mba Medical students’ experiences of the benefits and influences regarding a placement mentoring programme preparing them for future practice as junior doctors: a qualitative study BMJ Open |
| title | Medical students’ experiences of the benefits and influences regarding a placement mentoring programme preparing them for future practice as junior doctors: a qualitative study |
| title_full | Medical students’ experiences of the benefits and influences regarding a placement mentoring programme preparing them for future practice as junior doctors: a qualitative study |
| title_fullStr | Medical students’ experiences of the benefits and influences regarding a placement mentoring programme preparing them for future practice as junior doctors: a qualitative study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Medical students’ experiences of the benefits and influences regarding a placement mentoring programme preparing them for future practice as junior doctors: a qualitative study |
| title_short | Medical students’ experiences of the benefits and influences regarding a placement mentoring programme preparing them for future practice as junior doctors: a qualitative study |
| title_sort | medical students experiences of the benefits and influences regarding a placement mentoring programme preparing them for future practice as junior doctors a qualitative study |
| url | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/1/e032643.full |
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