A narrative review of mentoring programmes in general practice

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• General Practice Training
• Professional Development

Background:

• Mentoring in general practice is vital for professional growth and organizational efficiency.
• Lack of clear definition leads to inconsistent practices and underutilization.
• Existing approaches are often conflated with other educational methods, hindering effective oversight.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify critical elements of successful mentoring relationships in general practice.
• To inform the design of structured local mentoring programs.
• To address the underutilization and poor oversight of mentoring in the field.

Main Methods:

• Thematic analysis of published reports on undergraduate and postgraduate general practice mentoring programs.
• Systematic literature search (2000-2015) across major databases (PubMed, ERIC, ScienceDirect, Cochrane, OVID).
• Inclusion of 9 full-text articles from 1973 retrieved abstracts.

Main Results:

• Three core themes emerged: initiation of mentoring relationships, the mentoring relationship itself, and the mentoring environment.
• Successful mentoring programs are fundamentally built upon effective relationships.
• A framework for guiding the practice, structure, and oversight of mentoring was developed.

Conclusions:

• Effective mentoring relationships are central to successful general practice programs.
• A proposed framework can guide the implementation and oversight of mentoring.
• Further research is needed to validate the Mentoring Framework in specific contexts.