A narrative review of mentoring programmes in general practice

Abstract

Mentoring in general practice nurtures personal and professional development among mentees and mentors and enhances organisational productivity. Yet, failure to define it leads to variations in understanding and practice and conflation with other educational approaches. As a result, mentoring in general practice is underutilised and poorly overseen. This review seeks to identify elements among successful mentoring relationships to aid the design of local mentoring programmes. Reports of undergraduate and postgraduate mentoring programmes in general practice were analysed thematically. A literature search of mentoring of junior postgraduates or undergraduates by experienced mentors in general practice between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2015 was done using PubMed, ERIC, ScienceDirect, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and OVID. A total of 1973 abstracts were retrieved and 9 full-text articles were included and analysed. Three themes were identified, including the initiation of mentoring relationships, the mentoring relationship and the mentoring environment. Successful mentoring programmes pivot upon effective mentoring relationships. Based on the themes identified, a framework to guide practice, structure and oversight of the mentoring process is forwarded. Further context-specific study is needed to ensure the viability of the Mentoring Framework to better employ mentoring in general practice.

Understanding the Mentoring Environment Through Thematic Analysis of the Learning Environment in Medical Education: a Systematic Review

“…3, 4, 18, 27, 38, 40-42, 44, 45 Braun and Clarke's (2006) approach to thematic analysis was selected given its use in recent mentoring reviews. 5,[7][8][9] Use of Braun and Clarke's (2006) approach to thematic analysis was also supported by the presence of a wide range of research methodologies amongst the papers reviewed that makes statistical pooling and analysis difficult. 3, 4, 18, 27, 38, 40-42, 44, 45 Six authors experienced in the use of Braun and Clarke's (2006) approach to thematic analysis carried out independent analyses of the same 10 included articles.…”

“…Studies were confined to accounts of mentoring programmes published after 2000, given the tendency of articles published prior to 2000 to conflate mentoring with supervision, coaching, role modelling and tutoring. 3,5,[7][8][9] Only articles published in English or had English translations published between 2000 and 2015 were included.…”

“…1,2 Providing such individualised and holistic support depends upon an effective matching process, a nurturing mentoring relationship and a personalised mentoring environment. [3][4][5][6][7][8][9] The matching process involves pairing mentors with like-minded mentees with similar goals, values, beliefs and complementary characteristics to initiate personalised ties that will form the basis for effective mentoring relationships (MRs). 2,3,10 Successful MRs underpin mentoring's success [3][4][5][6][7][8][9] and pivot upon the quality of the ties between mentee, mentor and the host organisation.…”

“…Nurturing enduring MRs that flourish in changing mentoring conditions require the presence of mentoring environments (MEs). 5, 7-9, 11, 12 However, unlike matching and MRs which are increasingly the focus of medical education research, [5][6][7][8][9][13][14][15][16][17] MEs remain poorly studied. 3-9, 12, 18, 19 Whilst envisaged as an Bemotionally safe^, supportive and Bprotégé-centred^setting that facilitates the formation of personalised MRs, 5, 7-9 a formal definition of MEs continues to elude mentoring practice.…”

“…1-4, 11, 12, 14, 18, 20-28 This lacuna has hindered development of effective mentoring programmes within medical training. 5,[7][8][9] Inspired by studies that liken MEs to learning environments (LEs) and data highlighting common characteristics within MEs and LEs, this systematic review scrutinises LEs to better understand MEs and guide design and oversight of mentoring programmes. 3,4,18,27,[29][30][31][32] Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-019-05000-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.…”