Mentoring for medical students interested in family practice

Formal mentoring programs have been suggested as one strategy to increase student interest in primary care. Mentoring has long been a part of the business world but has only recently become a formal part of family medicine training. This paper reviews the literature on mentoring and provides applications to family practice. Mentoring has been found to develop a deeper relationship than role modeling or preceptoring and should benefit the student and mentor. The mentor's roles and functions are varied and numerous; the mentor guides, assists, and counsels students longitudinally through their development as professionals. Mentoring is based in the present but is directed toward the future. Mentors need to have charisma, leadership and motivational skills, inspiration, competence, compassion, empathy, and willingness to share with the student. Strategies used when developing a mentoring program need to incorporate the positive qualities of mentoring while minimizing the negative components, as described in this paper. The tasks of mentoring are of less importance than the personal characteristics of the mentor. Mentors should not be involved in formally evaluating the student. Faculty development and monitoring of the relationships on a regular basis are important aspects of a successful program.