A Novel Large-scale Mentoring Program for Medical Students based on a Quantitative and Qualitative Needs Analysis.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Student Professional Development
• Mentorship Programs

Background:

• Mentoring is crucial for student performance and career progression in medicine.
• A significant need for personalized professional development support exists among medical students.
• Existing faculty support for individual career growth was found to be insufficient.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the need for mentoring among medical students at LMU Munich School of Medicine.
• To establish a large-scale, novel mentoring program tailored to student needs.
• To evaluate student expectations regarding mentor roles and discussion topics.

Main Methods:

• A needs assessment was conducted via surveys distributed to all medical students (n=578).
• Focus groups with medical students (n=24) and faculty physicians (n=22) were held.
• Surveys were administered to students (n=534) enrolling in the mentoring program to capture expectations.

Main Results:

• 86% of students desired more personal and professional support, despite 83% overall satisfaction with teaching.
• Key mentor roles desired included counseling (55.6%), networking (36.4%), and professional development guidance (28.1%).
• Students prioritized discussing research (56.6%), electives (55.8%), and international experiences (45.5%).

Conclusions:

• A strong demand for structured mentoring was identified among medical students.
• A novel two-tiered mentoring system was developed: one-to-one for clinical years and peer mentoring for pre-clinical students.
• The program successfully engaged over 300 clinical students in one-to-one mentoring and 1,503 in peer mentoring societies within its first year.