Establishment and Retrospective Analysis of a Pilot Peer Mentorship Program

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Student Mentorship
• Higher Education

Background:

• Peer mentoring programs offer benefits, but data on medical students mentoring undergraduates is scarce.
• Existing research lacks insights into structured programs pairing medical and undergraduate students.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility and perceived effectiveness of a novel peer mentorship program.
• To evaluate a program connecting medical students with undergraduates for guidance and resources.

Main Methods:

• The "Pre-Med Pair Up" program linked medical students with undergraduates for mentorship and resources.
• Surveys assessed program impact on 11 undergraduates and 26 medical students after 6 months.
• Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlations analyzed program component relationships with student confidence and knowledge.

Main Results:

• Most undergraduates reported increased confidence in their premedical journey.
• Confidence gains strongly correlated with knowledge of volunteer opportunities (r=0.887) and application preparedness (r=0.854).
• Medical student curriculum preparedness also showed a strong correlation (r=0.871).

Conclusions:

• Self-reported confidence improved, with statistically significant positive outcomes.
• Low participant numbers and survey completion rates precluded definitive conclusions on program effectiveness.
• A lessons-learned approach was adopted to inform future iterations of the mentorship program.