Qualitative study on perception of first-year medical undergraduates toward mentorship program

Abstract

Background: Program evaluation is essential in establishing an effective mentoring program. Identifying the perception of mentees becomes an important qualitative component of the measurement of the effectiveness of a mentoring program. Aims and Objective: The objective of the current study was to identify the perception of the 1st-year medical undergraduates toward the mentorship program. Materials and Methods: Parallel mixed method design involved an initial quantitative survey followed by a qualitative study by focused group discussion (FGD) during 3 months in the 1st-year medical students in Government Medical College, Kannur, Kerala. A total of 96 students (n = 96) were present for the survey following which focus groups were formed from the same participants with 7–9 students in each group. Three such groups completed FGD by when data saturation was reached. Data were analyzed by quantitative and qualitative technique of focused group analysis. Results: Survey results showed that though the program had poor satisfaction in time (12.5%) and stress management (19.8%) the students still liked (69.8%) and felt the need (72.9%) of the program. Focused groups also reflected similarity with the survey result and identified facilitating factors for the success of programs such as mentor’s concern, genuine interest, mentor’s positive attitude, encouragement and guidance, and some hindering factors such as less frequent mentoring sessions, lack of follow-up, communication, and personal interaction. Conclusion: The perception of students helped to identify the strengths and weaknesses of a mentorship program with the focused group responses forming the basis for recommendation strategies to modify and improvise program primarily by improving communication and mentoring relationship.