Course-specific performance and mentor characteristics in an undergraduate tutorial system in medical education

Mentorship programs are widely used in medical education, but evidence linking specific mentor characteristics to students' course-specific theoretical performance remains limited. This study examined associations between mentor characteristics and theoretical examination outcomes within an undergraduate tutorial system (UTS).

This retrospective cohort study included 94 fourth-year medical students who participated in a structured UTS (each with one faculty mentor) and 136 non-UTS students for contextual comparison. Primary outcomes were final examination passing (≥60) and high achievement (≥80) in Internal Medicine and Surgery. Mentor characteristics included gender, age, professional title, academic degree, student-to-mentor ratio, and clinical specialty-course matching. Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) accounted for clustering of students within mentors.

UTS students had higher mean theoretical scores than non-UTS students (71.1 ± 12.0 vs. 64.5 ± 9.4). Students performed better in Surgery than in Internal Medicine (passing rate: 86.2% vs. 71.3%, p < 0.001; high-achiever rate: 36.2% vs. 20.2%, p = 0.002). In multivariable GEE, having a mentor with a senior professional title was independently associated with higher odds of passing Internal Medicine (adjusted OR = 2.89, 95% CI: 1.05-7.96, p = 0.04). No other mentor characteristic showed a statistically significant association in multivariable analyses. In univariate analyses, younger mentor age was associated with high achievement in Internal Medicine (OR per year = 0.92, 95% CI: 0.85-0.99, p = 0.03).

In this UTS program, a senior mentor title was independently associated with passing the Internal Medicine examination. Exploratory findings regarding mentor age require confirmation in larger, prospective studies. Course-specific differences in student performance were pronounced, suggesting that the impact of formal mentorship on theoretical learning is context-dependent.