Abstracts
Abstract
Introduction: Near peer mentorship (NPM) programs can help support medical students’ well-being. Most studies, however, have not accounted for students’ underlying motives to mentor, nor focused on clinical skills development and teaching. These limitations represent opportunities to better understand what motivates medical student mentors, and how to support their autonomous motivation, clinical development, and well-being.
Methods: Informed by self-determination theory (SDT), we collected data from a group of medical student mentors involved in a NPM program at the University of Saskatchewan called PULSE. We then used correlation and regression to assess the relationship between students’ autonomous motivation towards mentoring, perceived competence in teaching the clinical material, and psychological well-being.
Results: In line with our hypotheses, autonomous motivation towards mentoring (identified motivation in particular) was associated with higher perceived competence in clinical teaching, which in turn was associated with greater psychological well-being.
Conclusions: Why medical students choose to mentor in NPM programs appears to have important implications for their clinical confidence and overall well-being. Findings are discussed in terms of designing NPM programs that support student growth and wellness in Canadian medical education.
Résumé
Introduction : Les programmes de mentorat par les pairs peuvent contribuer au bien-être des étudiants en médecine. Cependant, la plupart des études n'ont pas pris en compte les motivations sous-jacentes des étudiants à devenir mentor, ni ne se sont concentrées sur le développement des compétences cliniques et l'enseignement. Ces limites ouvrent des perspectives pour mieux comprendre ce qui motive les étudiants en médecine mentors, et comment soutenir leur motivation autonome, leur développement clinique et leur bien-être.
Méthodes : En nous appuyant sur la théorie de l'autodétermination, nous avons recueilli des données auprès d'un groupe d'étudiants en médecine mentors participant à un programme de mentorat par les pairs à l'Université de la Saskatchewan appelé PULSE. Nous avons ensuite eu recours à la corrélation et la régression pour évaluer la relation entre la motivation autonome des étudiants envers le mentorat, leur perception de leur compétence dans l'enseignement clinique et leur bien-être psychologique.
Résultats : Conformément à nos hypothèses, la motivation autonome envers le mentorat (la motivation identifiée en particulier) a été associée à une plus grande compétence perçue dans l'enseignement clinique, qui à son tour a été associée à un plus grand bien-être psychologique.
Conclusions : Les raisons pour lesquelles les étudiants en médecine choisissent d'être mentors dans les programmes de mentorat par les pairs semblent avoir des implications importantes pour leur confiance en clinique et leur bien-être général. Les résultats sont discutés en termes de conception de programmes de mentorat par les pairs qui soutiennent la progression et le bien-être des étudiants dans le secteur de l’enseignement de la médecine au Canada.
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