Development of an effective mentorship program for preclinical medical student global health research training: An evaluation of a pilot mentorship program

As medical student interest in global health soars, so too does the desire by students to do research in international settings. However, very few medical students receive formal training in research skills. Mentorship is a key component of any research endeavour by students. The University of Texas...

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Main Authors: Caley A. Satterfield, Matthew M. Dacso, Premal Patel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2016-12-01
Series:Cogent Medicine
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/2331205X.2016.1240847
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author Caley A. Satterfield
Matthew M. Dacso
Premal Patel
author_facet Caley A. Satterfield
Matthew M. Dacso
Premal Patel
author_sort Caley A. Satterfield
collection DOAJ
description As medical student interest in global health soars, so too does the desire by students to do research in international settings. However, very few medical students receive formal training in research skills. Mentorship is a key component of any research endeavour by students. The University of Texas Medical Branch focuses preclinical rotations on value-adding, mentored scholarly projects, developed with host site collaborators. The structure of this program allows preclinical students to engage meaningfully with international partners, who serve as research mentors. Mentorship is critical to successful development, implementation, and dissemination of scholarly projects. This paper describes a qualitative evaluation of a pilot mentorship program, which included semi-structured, one-on-one interviews with mentors and students who participated in the 2015 global health preclinical experience. Overall, mentors and students were satisfied with the mentorship experience. Challenges to mentoring were insufficient time and lack of student accountability to deadlines. Students reported satisfaction with the mentor relationship. The common theme from student interviews was the importance of communication. The better the communication, the better the experience.
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spelling doaj.art-bfea970676474e78b8b7622872fd4de32022-12-22T02:03:14ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCogent Medicine2331-205X2016-12-013110.1080/2331205X.2016.12408471240847Development of an effective mentorship program for preclinical medical student global health research training: An evaluation of a pilot mentorship programCaley A. Satterfield0Matthew M. Dacso1Premal Patel2University of Texas Medical BranchUniversity of Texas Medical BranchUniversity of Texas Medical BranchAs medical student interest in global health soars, so too does the desire by students to do research in international settings. However, very few medical students receive formal training in research skills. Mentorship is a key component of any research endeavour by students. The University of Texas Medical Branch focuses preclinical rotations on value-adding, mentored scholarly projects, developed with host site collaborators. The structure of this program allows preclinical students to engage meaningfully with international partners, who serve as research mentors. Mentorship is critical to successful development, implementation, and dissemination of scholarly projects. This paper describes a qualitative evaluation of a pilot mentorship program, which included semi-structured, one-on-one interviews with mentors and students who participated in the 2015 global health preclinical experience. Overall, mentors and students were satisfied with the mentorship experience. Challenges to mentoring were insufficient time and lack of student accountability to deadlines. Students reported satisfaction with the mentor relationship. The common theme from student interviews was the importance of communication. The better the communication, the better the experience.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/2331205X.2016.1240847global health researchglobal health educationmentorshipresearch trainingpreclinical medical students
spellingShingle Caley A. Satterfield
Matthew M. Dacso
Premal Patel
Development of an effective mentorship program for preclinical medical student global health research training: An evaluation of a pilot mentorship program
Cogent Medicine
global health research
global health education
mentorship
research training
preclinical medical students
title Development of an effective mentorship program for preclinical medical student global health research training: An evaluation of a pilot mentorship program
title_full Development of an effective mentorship program for preclinical medical student global health research training: An evaluation of a pilot mentorship program
title_fullStr Development of an effective mentorship program for preclinical medical student global health research training: An evaluation of a pilot mentorship program
title_full_unstemmed Development of an effective mentorship program for preclinical medical student global health research training: An evaluation of a pilot mentorship program
title_short Development of an effective mentorship program for preclinical medical student global health research training: An evaluation of a pilot mentorship program
title_sort development of an effective mentorship program for preclinical medical student global health research training an evaluation of a pilot mentorship program
topic global health research
global health education
mentorship
research training
preclinical medical students
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/2331205X.2016.1240847
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