Abstract

BackgroundGood mentoring is a key variable for determining success in completing a doctoral program. We identified prevailing mentoring practices among doctoral students and their mentors, identified common challenges facing doctoral training, and proposed some solutions to enhance the quality of the doctoral training experience for both candidates and mentors at Makerere University College of Health Sciences (MakCHS).MethodsThis cross-sectional qualitative evaluation was part of the monitoring and evaluation program for doctoral training. All doctoral students and their mentors were invited for a half-day workshop through the MakCHS mailing list. Prevailing doctoral supervision and mentoring guidelines were summarised in a one-hour presentation. Participants were split into two homogenous students’ (mentees’) and mentors’ groups to discuss specific issues using a focus group discussion (FGD) guide, that highlighted four main themes in regard to the doctoral training experience; what was going well, what was not going well, proposed solutions to current challenges and perceived high priority areas for improvement. The two groups came together again and the note-takers from each group presented their data and discussions were recorded by a note-taker.ResultsTwelve out of 36 invited mentors (33%) and 22 out of 40 invited mentees (55%) attended the workshop. Mentors and mentees noted increasing numbers of doctoral students and mentors, which provided opportunities for peer mentorship. Delays in procurement and research regulatory processes subsequently delayed students’ projects. Similarly, mentees mentioned challenges of limited; 1) infrastructure and mentors to support basic science research projects, 2) physical office space for doctoral students and their mentors, 3) skills in budgeting and finance management and 4) communication skills including conflict resolution. As solutions, the team proposed skills’ training, induction courses for doctoral students-mentor teams, and a Frequently Asked Questions’ document, to better inform mentors’, mentees’ expectations and experiences.ConclusionSystemic and infrastructural limitations affect the quality of the doctoral training experience at MaKCHS. Clinical and biomedical research infrastructure, in addition to training in research regulatory processes, procurement and finance management, communication skills and information technology, were highlighted as high priority areas for strategic interventions to improve mentoring within doctoral training of clinician scientists.

Highlights

  • Good mentoring is a key variable for determining success in completing a doctoral program

  • Over the last decade, the number of health care doctoral students at Makerere University College of Health Sciences (MakCHS) has increased by over 10 fold with the increasing funding opportunities for capacity building for health care and health leadership [1,2]

  • Funding for doctoral training had been realised through collaborative capacity building programs including among others; Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI)–Medical Education for All Ugandans (MESAU), Training Health Researchers into Vocational Excellence (THRIVE), Malaria Capacity Development Consortium (MCDC), Millenium Science Initiative (MSI), Netherlands University Foundation for International Cooperation (NUFFIC) and Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA)

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Summary

Introduction

Good mentoring is a key variable for determining success in completing a doctoral program. Funding for doctoral training had been realised through collaborative capacity building programs including among others; Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI)–Medical Education for All Ugandans (MESAU), Training Health Researchers into Vocational Excellence (THRIVE), Malaria Capacity Development Consortium (MCDC), Millenium Science Initiative (MSI), Netherlands University Foundation for International Cooperation (NUFFIC) and Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA). Each of these collaborative doctoral programs provides unique features that could be utilised to promote mentoring best practices for doctoral students at MakCHS. Given the high investment in doctoral training, the current global climate of diminishing resources and the great need for building local capacity for higher education, understanding and examining the challenges to students’ ability to complete their doctoral degree requirements in a timely manner remains critical [6]

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