A Phenomenological Study through the Mentor’s Eyes: Unveiling the Lived Experiences of Medical Faculty Mentors

Abstract

Objective: Mentorship is a unique phenomenon that moves beyond clinical competencies to building professional identity and personal growth in domains like communication, mental well-being and self-care, to resilience. We aim to explore the lived experiences of medical faculty mentors to understand how they perceive the concept of mentoring and practice it locally, with the intend to showcase best practices.

Materials and Methods: We used Moustakas’ phenomenological approach and constructivist theoretical paradigm to explore mentors lived experiences through semi-structured interviews. The study was conducted between May and July 2024. We obtained consent from 26 out of 51 participants who attended an orientation seminar at the Dow University of Health Sciences. The participants were interviewed about their individual and real-time experiences with their mentees. The data was organized, coded, and labelled for similarities, which allowed us to establish specific categories and organize them into higher-level themes.

Results: The results generated clusters of meanings and were grouped into three main themes (1) mentoring relations, (2) mentoring challenges, and (3) mentoring best practices. Organizing themes within mentoring relations included skills, roles and responsibilities, relationship evolution, and expectations and benefits. Mentoring challenges included subthemes like insufficient faculty training and institutional support, resource constraints, mentorship dynamics, generation gaps, communication barriers, relationship building, and misconceptions. Mentoring best practices centred on subthemes such as structured curriculum, mentee voices, mentor qualities, clear goals and objectives, dedicated time, reciprocal learning, reflective practice, and strong organizational support.

Conclusion: Our findings emphasize the importance of structured mentorship training for early-career faculty benefiting both mentees and mentors. By showcasing the best practices, we intent to transform mentoring practices to empower our medical faculty and enhancing educational outcomes both locally and beyond.