Mentoring as support to help student grow into expert

Mentoring is part of the core studies in medicine, biomedicine and dentistry. Students are assigned a mentor at the start of their studies for the duration of their studies. The mentor will meet with about ten of his/her own students, both individually and in groups, a couple of times a year. Mentoring helps to address important topics related to studying and growing as a professional/expert. Mentoring focuses on the transition phases of studies: the beginning of studies, the start of the clinical phase and graduation.

Mentoring topics include.

• Ethical issues
• Well-being and resources
• Facing death and grief
• Confidentiality
• Personal strengths and skills

In addition to small group meetings, the mentor meets personally with each student in the spring for a development discussion. This is an opportunity to reflect on professional and expert development, academic progress and other topics that concern the student. The student's growth and development portfolio and personal study plan (HOPS) are reviewed.

There are currently over 130 mentors, many of whom are alumni! Volunteer mentors are a valuable resource for the faculty and a prerequisite for good mentoring. They include faculty teachers, teaching nurses, professors, assistants, and alumni - doctors, dentists and biomedical experts working outside the faculty.

We train our mentors. In the autumn, an afternoon training session is held for all new mentors to familiarise them with the role. Before each group meeting, mentors from that year group meet to give tips on how to meet, share experiences and get peer support. Joint training sessions are also organised a couple of times a year for all mentors on topics related to mentoring and guidance.