Study of Effectiveness of Near Peer Mentoring in Undergraduate Medical Students in a Government Run Medical College

Abstract

Background: There is growing evidence for the positive effects of mentoring programs in undergraduate medical education in professional and personal development. Peer mentoring is a type of mentoring program in which individuals are equal in age, experience, and rank. This project was taken to introduce an immediate support network for the students of fourth semester MBBS to facilitate learning and overall development. The long term goal is to cultivate a mentoring culture at our medical college that will engage all strata of students. Methods: Two hundred Undergraduate medical students of fourth semester batch were included as mentees. Undergraduate medical students of sixth and eighth semester batch were taken as near peer mentor. After the sensitization meetings, each mentee was allotted to a near peer mentor. At the end of the mentoring period, the perceptions of the mentors and mentees about the mentoring programme were recorded. Marks of third and fourth semester examinations were compared to look for any improvement in scores. Results: 42 % of the mentees felt that they enjoyed the mentoring sessions as the near peers could understand their problems very well. Comparison of pre mentoring and post mentoring academic performance was done by analyzing the third and fourth semester theory and practical examination marks. The mean of third semester theory was 23.14 % and the same for 4th semester was 26.14 % (p<0.001). For the practical marks, the mean for third semester was 16.51 % and that of the 4th semester was 18.29 %. (p<0.001). The difference was more pronounced in cases of low achievers. Conclusions: Near-peer mentoring is a novel idea with beneficial effects on both mentee and mentors. Mentoring has some role in academic achievements of mentees, especially for low achievers. Mentors, in turn, benefit by honing of knowledge or acquiring communication and teaching skills critical for the development of a professional.