681 How Much Can Medical Students Benefit from A Student-Led Surgical Mentorship Scheme?

Abstract

Abstract Introduction Mentorship programmes enable students to explore different specialties, observe surgeries and participate in audits, whilst helping trainees develop leadership and teaching skills. We developed such a scheme and asked participants to fill out several questionnaires, to assess its benefits and restrictions. Method We set up a student-led mentorship scheme, pairing 54 medical students with surgeons around London. Students completed questionnaires before, during and after the scheme and mentors completed a post-mentorship scheme feedback questionnaire, with the purpose of measuring the participants’ experience on Likert scales from 1 to 5. Quantitative data analysis was performed to assess trends. Results In the cohort of students who answered all three questionnaires (n = 34) the biggest improvements seen over the duration of the scheme were ‘exposure to surgery so far in medical school’ and ‘understanding the steps required to improve a surgical portfolio’, with mean values increasing by 1.653 and 1.733, respectively. The main challenges faced were mainly related to time restraints and communication issues. Conclusions Mentors and mentees can both benefit from a mentorship scheme, but certain variables, such as time constraints and goal-setting, need to be clearly established for both parties. In the future, the scheme would benefit from more guidance and stricter ruling.