Development and Evaluation of a Peer Mentoring Programme for Postgraduate Medical Residents in Pakistan: A Pilot...

To develop, implement, and evaluate the impact of one-year peer mentoring programme for postgraduate medical residents.

Mixed methods. Place and Duration of the Study: The Aga Khan University, Karachi, from January 2019 to December 2020.

A survey was administered to junior residents in Medicine, Paediatrics, Pathology, and Radiology residency programmes to identify their academic needs from January 2019 to December 2020. Final-year residents, who served as peer mentors were provided a one-day mentoring workshop, including details of the identified needs. This was followed by one-year intervention in which mentors-mentees met as per mutual feasibility. A structured survey and focus group discussions were conducted to inquire the effectiveness of mentoring.

A total of 33 out of 52 (63%) Year 1 residents completed needs analysis survey. Four essential identified areas were research (63%), memory (59%), reading (55%), and time management (53%). Residents reported excelling in areas of research, memory and reading, however, time management needed improvement. Focus group discussions emphasised mentoring as mandatory, including the wide range of skills.

Senior residents should be trained as mentors of juniors, and semi-structured formal and informal mentoring can be implemented across all residency programmes.

Mentoring, Residents, Postgraduate, Medical trainees.