Mentoring relationships between senior physicians and junior doctors and/or medical students: A thematic review

Abstract

Introduction: Mentoring relationships are pivotal to the outcome of the mentoring process. This thematic review seeks to study the key aspects of mentoring relationships between senior physicians and junior doctors and/or medical students to inform efforts to improve mentoring programs.

Methods: Literature search was performed on publications across PubMed, ERIC, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, OVID and ScienceDirect databases between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2015 by three independent reviewers. The BEME guide and STORIES statement were used to develop a narrative from the articles selected.

Results: Thematic analysis of 49 articles reveals five semantic themes of initiation process, developmental process, evaluation process, sustaining mentoring relationship, and obstacles to effective mentoring. The evolving and relational-dependent nature of mentoring pivots upon the compatibility of mentors and mentees and the quality of their interactions, which in turn depend on mentoring environments and awareness of mentor-, mentee-, organizational-related factors and changes in context and goals.

Conclusions: Embrace of a consistent mentoring approach to ensure effective oversight of the mentoring process must be balanced with sufficient flexibility to ensure a mentee-centered approach. Efforts must be made to optimize the key aspects of mentoring relationships in order to ensure successful mentoring processes and outcomes.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to dedicate this paper to the late Dr S Radha Krishna and Dr Deborah Watkinson whose advice and ideas were integral to the success of this study.

Disclosure statement

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

Glossary

Mentoring: An activity that is based on learning relationships, which help people to take charge of their own development, to release their potential and to achieve results which they value (Lakhani 2015).

In medicine, mentoring: A dynamic, context-dependent, goal-sensitive, mutually beneficial relationship between an experienced clinician and junior clinicians and/or undergraduates focused upon advancing the development of the mentee.

Notes on contributors

Julia Huina Sng is a final year medical student at the National University of Singapore Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine.

Yiying Pei is a final year medical student at the National University of Singapore Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine.

Ying Pin Toh, MBBS, MRCPCH, is a Medical Officer at Assisi Hospice

Tan Ying Peh, MBBS, MMed, is a Consultant at the Division of Palliative Medicine, National Cancer Centre Singapore and Adjunct Instructor, Palliative Medicine Coordinator and Clinical Tutor, Duke-NUS Medical School.

Shirlyn Huishan Neo, MBBS, MRCP, is an Associate Consultant at the Division of Palliative Medicine, National Cancer Centre Singapore and Adjunct Instructor, Duke-NUS Medical School.

Lalit Kumar Radha Krishna, MBChB, FRCP, FAMS, MA (Medical Education), MA (Medical Ethics), PhD (Medical Ethics), is an Associate Professor and Senior Consultant at the Division of Palliative Medicine, National Cancer Centre Singapore; Course Director (Practice Course 2) at Duke-NUS Medical School and Course Director (Phase 4 and 5) at the Centre for Biomedical Ethics, National University of Singapore.