What sparks a guide on the side? A qualitative study to explore motivations and approaches of mentors in health professions education

Abstract

Introduction

Despite abundant research emphasising the value of mentoring for healthcare professionals, little is known about what motivates mentors. This study aimed to explore what motivated a group of internationally renowned health professions educators to accept informal, international and mostly online mentoring roles, and their approaches to that mentoring.

Methods

Using a qualitative approach, we interviewed ten global educational leaders, who volunteered to serve as mentors in an initiative implemented by the Association for Medical Education in Europe in 2019, via Zoom. The hour-long interviews, conducted between May and October 2019, were audiotaped and transcribed on Zoom. De-identified transcripts were analysed for key themes.

Results

The key themes identified could be mapped to three categories, Motivations – Why; Approaches – How, and Global and virtual mentoring – What. Themes under motivations included: (1) Nurturing relationships focussed on mentees’ growth; (2) Pass on the benefit of one’s experience; (3) For one’s own continued growth. Themes under approaches included: (1) Provide a safe space; (2) Encourage mentees to take ownership of their professional development. Themes under global and virtual mentoring included: (1) Mentoring across geographical borders is still about relationships; (2) Virtual mentoring is not a barrier to relationship building.

Discussion

Though mentors also saw own growth and ongoing professional development as an important benefit of mentoring, altruism or the desire to benefit others, appeared to be a key motivating factor for them. Finding ways in which to identify mentors who are passionate about strengthening the field in this way – for example through reflective narratives and critical conversations – could be key when implementing mentoring initiatives.

Keywords:

• Mentoring
• E-mentoring
• mentor motivations
• professional development

Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge the Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE) and its Fellowship Committee for implementing this mentoring initiative which included several international leaders in Health Professions Education and the mentors who generously volunteered their time and expertise in taking on these mentoring roles.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Glossary

Prosocial motivation: A desire to invest in efforts that will benefit others. These efforts may be driven by a desire to show empathy, demonstrate a helpful attitude and a general concern for others.

Empathy-altruism hypothesis: This hypothesis states that empathic emotion, caused by seeing others in need, evokes altruistic motivation (Batson 2019).

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Subha Ramani

Subha Ramani, MBBS, PhD, FAMEE, is a general internist and educator at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Honorary Professor of Medical Education at the University of Manchester, UK. Her scholarly interests include clinical teaching, application of educational and psychosocial theories to educational practice and mentoring.

Rashmi A. Kusurkar

Rashmi A. Kusurkar, MD, PhD, FAMEE, is an Associate Professor and Research Programme Leader at Amsterdam UMC; Research in Education, Faculty of Medicine, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands. She is an international scholar in Self-determination Theory of motivation and her research programme is built on the theme of developing ‘students for life.

Evangelos Papageorgiou

Evangelos Papageorgiou, MD, AFAMEE, is a medical doctor from Greece, currently working as a junior doctor in the United Kingdom. He is a member of the AMEE Executive Committee, formerly representing the European Medical Students’ Association (EMSA) and currently representing the European Junior Doctors Association (EJD). His interests involve undergraduate education, interprofessional education, student involvement and advocacy, mentoring and diversity in medical education.

Susan van Schalkwyk

Susan van Schalkwyk, BA (Hons), MPhil (Higher Education), PhD, FAMEE, is a professor in Health Professions Education and director of the Centre for Health Professions Education, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University. Scholarly interests include doctoral education, faculty development, and strengthening scholarship in the field of health professions education.