Elevating Mentorship Competency for Sustained Impact through the University of Zambia Mentor Training Program

Background: The University of Zambia’s (UNZA) Mentor Training Program, established in 2018, is conducted annually to strengthen the mentorship capacity of the UNZA PhD program for the health professions. This intensive five-session course trains faculty members in the mentorship of students. Established by senior UNZA leaders and US-based collaborators, this program was designed to address gaps in mentorship identified at the institutional level. Faculty facilitators developed the course curriculum and used a train-the-trainer model to ensure program sustainability. Participants were faculty members and current or future mentors of PhD and Master of Medicine students. Methods: To assess the program’s impact, faculty mentors and their mentees completed a 26-item questionnaire on mentoring competencies at the end of a mentor’s participation in the course and one year later. The competencies included: maintaining effective communication, aligning expectations, assessing understanding, fostering independence, addressing diversity, and promoting professional development. Competency scores were compared longitudinally to quantify potential changes in mentoring behaviors. Results: Mentors and mentees alike noted mentor growth in all competency domains from post-course to one year later, providing evidence that the program may have sustained and positive effects on mentoring behaviors over time. Analysis of mentors’ self-ratings indicated a 20% increase in perceived competency from pre-training to one year later; mentees noted a 7% increase in mentors’ competency during the same period. Salient areas of growth corresponded with topics of emphasis and in-depth discussions in the course, including addressing diversity, aligning expectations, assessing capacities, motivating mentees, and fostering independence. Conclusions: These findings suggest that mentors internalized this content and transferred it to behavior change. The behavioral changes may reveal a larger change in the institutional environment around the mentoring of students. The UNZA Mentor Training Program appears to have sustained impact after a year and should bode well for future benefits to students, faculty, and the institution.