Transformative Student-led Hybrid Mentorship Model Empowering Health Sciences Undergraduates and Young Professionals in Uganda: A MedXMentor Case Study

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Despite a few assertive health professions students knowing about mentorship, they also need help leveraging the various benefits of mentorship. The lack of a structured platform to ease access to mentorship. A student-led initiative dubbed Medxmentor was established to address these gaps. This study assessed the effectiveness of this hybrid mentorship initiative in enhancing research capacity and professional development among undergraduate health sciences students and young professionals in Uganda. Methods Both quantitative and qualitative methods were utilized to obtain data. The Kirkpatrick Model of Evaluation was utilized to assess mentees' emotions, learning, and behavior using Google Form questionnaires, feedback forms, and mentoring logs. Study results were summarized using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Results There were 80 mentees recruited, with 48 (60%) qualifying for one-to-one mentorship and the rest participating in group mentorship sessions. The program had 24 mentors, primarily from the medical profession. The program also had three non-Ugandan mentors. Eight online sessions were organized for group mentorship between April and September 2022, with an average attendance of 52% of mentees. Three workshops were organized; a boot camp, grant writing, and soft skills. Sixty-eight percent (68%) of the project planning webinar attendees reported an increased understanding of the basics of project management. Four themes emerged on Mentee experiences; Mentor engagement, Goal oriented study, Skills and professional development, and High yield mentor-mentee engagements. Conclusion & Recommendations A structured mentorship program provides a solution to access mentorship and addresses the needs of mentors and mentees. The Medxmentor program leveraging online platforms provides a broad niche of mentor resources and an efficient structure that can be easily replicated in various medical schools in low-resource settings. Mentorship Health Professions Students Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 INTRODUCTION Students pursuing health-related courses need access to mentorship and its benefits during their formative academic and career states ( 1 – 2 ). In contemporary medical practice, studies have demonstrated the positive impact of mentorship, which includes reduced feelings of burnout and depression, heightened career satisfaction, and both personal and professional growth ( 3 – 5 ). However, in Sub-Saharan African universities, structured mentorship programs are notably lacking ( 6 ) Currently, there is limited updated data on the student-to-faculty ratios in various medical schools in Uganda. However, Mbarara University Medical School has an estimated ratio of one member to seven students. This highlighted the fundamental need for establishing a mentorship initiative that leverages online and digital platforms to promote mentorship access while fully optimizing the benefits for health professions students. This gave rise to a structured student-led hybrid mentorship initiative monitored by student leaders and guided by the university administration that encompasses both online and physical interactions, referred to as Medxmentor, at Mbarara University of Science and Technology. The aims of this initiative included; fostering leadership, community engagement, and academic and professional career development to support young health professionals in identifying and actively engaging with mentors in professional development, career choices, and skill development, to create an engaging community of mentors for health professions students, to scale the mentorship initiative among students and youth pursuing a career in the health sector across Uganda and other African countries. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate and assess the effectiveness of the student-led hybrid mentorship initiative, Medxmentor, in enhancing research capacity and professional development among undergraduate health sciences students and young professionals in Uganda. Implementation of the mentorship program Target population The program was designed for undergraduate students pursuing health-related courses at Mbarara University of Science of Technology (MUST) under the Faculty of Medicine. MUST is a public university in Uganda offering undergraduate and postgraduate programs accredited by the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE). The Faculty of Medicine is located at the Mbarara campus, approximately 266 kilometers southwest of Kampala. The faculty has six undergraduate courses that include Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB), Bachelor of Pharmacy, Bachelor of Nursing, Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Bachelor of Physiotherapy, and Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Sciences, all of which are four years course duration except the Bachelors of Medicine and Surgery that requires five years. Recruitment of mentors and mentees The Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, together with the Medical Students Association president, formed an interim secretariat of students who were tasked with coordinating the day-to-day activities of the program. A call for prospective mentees was made through an online Google form. Mentors were recruited into the program through recommendation and volunteer basis in line with their areas of expertise. The mentors and mentees were then paired based on the interests of both parties. This program planned to utilize two main models of mentorship: Mentorship models 1. Dyadic or traditional mentorship utilizes a one-to-one mentorship between mentor and mentee ( 9 – 10 ). This enables the mentors and mentees to build close interpersonal relationships. This requires both mentor and mentee to meet for some required hours within a week with designed monitoring and evaluation tools for tracking and reporting progress. 2. Team group mentorship was through webinars and physical interactions through workshops and boot camps in which all mentees were clustered together for learning purposes. In team group mentoring, mentors from different fields of expertise form a coalition to share knowledge, with each mentor sharing unique but complementary knowledge from their various areas of specialty ( 9 ). Through this form of mentorship, the program organized weekly webinar sessions conducted online, while different mentees were also assigned to specific mentors for group learning sessions. A physical workshop was held every two months to provide a more interactive session with the mentors. Methods Study population Mentees were enrolled in the aforementioned five undergraduate medical programs. The recruitment of participants was conducted through the utilization of online application forms. To ensure a diverse and qualified pool of mentors, we recruited 24 mentors based on recommendations and their willingness to mentor students, considering their areas of expertise and career levels. Most of these mentors came from the medical profession. Mentees were subsequently divided up and placed to receive one of the two models of mentorship; dyadic mentorship and team group mentorship. The cohort ran for six months, during which the secretariat organized weekly online webinar sessions while different mentees assigned to specific mentors participated in group learning sessions. A physical workshop was held every two months to provide a more interactive session with the mentors. Pre- and post-session assessment forms were utilized to collect data. Mentees under One-on-one mentorship were required to fill in the mentoring logs after their Mentor-mentee meetings. Study design The Medxmentor Secretariat used mixed methods, both quantitative and qualitative, to obtain data. The model designed for monitoring and evaluation of both one on one and group mentorships was based on the Kirkpatrick Model of Evaluation ( 11 – 12 ). The Kirkpatrick Model of Evaluation comprises four levels of evaluation that were modified to suit the program. Reactions: This was assessed through evaluation forms after every session to quantify the feedback from both mentees and mentors on things that stood out and others requiring improvement within each session. At the end of the cohort, mentees were tasked to describe their general experiences throughout their interactions with the mentors and each other. Learning: This was done through continuous pre- and post-session assessments. Before each online or physical session, general sample questions were handed to mentees on the topic of discussion. The results from that session were then used to guide the mentor on specific learning topics. Post-session assessment forms were used to gauge mentees' knowledge levels. Behavior: Assessment was made via the one-on-one mentorship through a 2-way assessment from the mentors who provided reports on their mentees and from mentees’ self-evaluation at the end of each meeting with their mentors via a structured mentoring log. Results: The results from the mentorship engagement are presented in the Results section. This model was incorporated into the various feedback collection tools that included; Google form questionnaires and feedback forms, Filled mentoring logs, and Session attendance logs. Feedback was also collected in mid and end-cohort periods. These tools were used for pre-and post-session assessment during group activities (weekly webinars and physical workshops). The Mentoring logs were filled after every one-on-one Mentor-mentee meeting. Data analysis Quantitative Results were then summarized using descriptive statistics. The same tools, that is, Google form questionnaires, feedback forms, and mentoring logs, were used to obtain Qualitative data utilizing open-ended questions. These tools were pre-tested amongst secretariat members not involved in the question drafting process to ensure they were well understood and would collect the data they were meant to. The data was collected in English, and no translations were done. It was then coded and summarized using thematic analysis. Results Participants Demographics. Eighty mentees were recruited through online application forms and enrolled in the group mentorship. Sixty percent (60%) of those mentees met the criteria for one-to-one mentorship and were assigned mentors. The remaining mentees were allowed to attend the group mentorship sessions. In the one-on-one model; 48 mentees were recruited from the five major undergraduate programs; Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery, Bachelor of Pharmacy, Bachelor of Nursing, Bachelor of Physiotherapy, and Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Science. Of these, 64.4 % were male. The representation by year of study was; 4th year (44.4%), 2nd year (31.1%), 5th year (11.1%), 3rd year (8.9%), and 1st year (4.4%). The program had 24 mentors from various career levels: Of these, 11 were female, and only 3 were not Ugandan. The mentors were majorly from the medical profession. Implementation of different Mentorship activities. For the one-on-one mentorship, 48 mentees were matched to 24 mentors. On the other hand, for the group Mentorship, online sessions were organized weekly on Wednesdays between April and September 2022, with an average attendance of 52% of mentees. These webinars were not limited to enrolled mentees but also included attendees from other Ugandan Universities and other African countries like Kenya. The topics covered included goal setting, project planning, leadership, mentorship relationship, self-leadership, personal branding, healthy financial habits, and entrepreneurship skills. Pre- and post-session mentee assessments Results from the pre-and post-session mentee assessment revealed an improvement in knowledge and skills, especially for the project planning webinar, where 68% of the attendees reported having an increased understanding of the basics of project management. a. Workshops Grant Writing and Research Skills Workshop: This workshop, under the theme “Developing Research and Grant Writing Skills”, equipped 60 mentees with knowledge about the basics research skills for identifying a problem worth researching, research proposal and manuscript writing skills, the relevance of mentorship in research as well as developing interest in grant writing. 20% of the attendees reported having had an increased understanding of research concepts after the workshop based on their areas of interest. Soft Skills Workshop: This workshop themed, “Developing Research and Grant Writing Skills, '' Harnessing the power of soft skills to reclaim the future of healthcare across Africa'' equipped 40 mentees with the importance of soft skills in the current and future workplace, bridging the knowledge gap on soft skills in the healthcare courses in universities and developing mentees with CV writing knowledge. Following this workshop, 63% of the mentees submitted updated resumes to the team 1 week after the work, and 50% had a noticeable improvement in their CVs. Monitoring and Evaluation 1. The team In this cohort of Medxmentor, the Medxmentor Secretariat comprised 13 team members who are students in different health professional courses, and these served different roles in the Secretariat. Following an end-of-cohort team evaluation, team delegation was the best performing at 70%, while the least completed aspect was the attendance of team meetings at 56% ( Table 1 ). 2. Mentorship models a. One-on-one Mentorship. Mentees were required to submit at least two mentoring logs monthly, which equated to 2 mentorship meetings in a month. In addition, the program team created a mentorship database, and details concerning when a mentorship log was submitted were captured here. 53% of the mentees held five mentorship meetings with their mentors in 6 months ( Figure 2 ). 27% of the mentees achieved their goals for mentorship, and 34% were at the implementation stage of their action plans to achieve their goals. About 67% of the mentees in the first cohort who participated in the feedback collection activity reported finding it relatively convenient to reach their Mentors. A significant majority of the mentees, (66.6%) rated their convenience in reaching out to their mentors at a satisfactory level of 3 or higher on a scale of 1 to 5. Furthermore, 52% of the mentors reported having made great and productive mentorship relationships with their mentees. b. Group Mentorship Group mentorship monitoring was evaluated using the Likert scale and Kirkpatrick model to assess attendees' knowledge before and after the group mentorship session. 60% of the mentees reported increased awareness and understanding of the topic covered during the week, and at least 30% of the attendees reported incorporating the skills learned into their day-to-day work. A group of three students started up a project on Personal Branding following a session on personal branding. Mentee experiences. Following the cohort's needs, mentees were asked to share their mentorship experiences, categorized under the following broad themes. 1. Professional development: The mentees highlighted that their mentors invested in their professional, clinical, and personal development. This enabled them to build a closer relationship with their mentees. Mentee 1, a 23-year-old male “It has been a worthwhile journey because I enjoyed working with my mentor. I’m glad she was the one for me because I was comfortable with her during our mentorship sessions. She understood and guided me on whichever topic I brought up and so made it easier for me to open up more about which I was finding difficulty in...” Mentee 2, a 22-year-old male “The meetings with my mentor built me into the resilient and formidable lady I am today; willing to be at the front, determined and confident to always stand out. She was a mother figure; caring, understanding, inspirational, goal-oriented, and always encouraged me...” Based on the various sessions and different topics, mentees highlighted their experience with an introduction to various skill sets they needed to know were necessary for their careers. Mentee 3, a 23-year-old female “I found all the webinars that I attended very educational, with high-impact content and skills for survival in life, especially after school. They opened my eyes to the current trend in the job market, life skills such as project development, CV writing, and grants writing…” 2. Goal-oriented study: Mentees also highlighted that the program enabled them to set direct goals for their medical school that can apply and guide them through their professional development journey. Mentee 4, a 24-year-old male “Before I joined the program, I wasn’t intentional about the many things I wanted to achieve in life. With guidance, I learned to develop SMART life goals, break them into smaller achievable ones and translate them to each day and month…” 3. Inspirational engagements: The sessions provided mentees valuable opportunities to engage with multiple mentors, hear their personal stories, and learn from their struggles during their youth. The captivating narratives of the mentors served as a powerful source of inspiration, motivating the mentees to strive for excellence in their journeys. Mentee 5, a 22-year-old female “ Listening to several mentors narrate their success stories with immeasurable vigor and energy was entertaining: how they rose from the comfort of their medical undergraduate, masters, and Ph.D. degrees to venture into the business and research world and eventually succeeded was worth our ears. These gave us some lessons that we could draw on as young adults to enable us to impact and succeed in the contemporary and competitive world….” Discussion In this paper, we report on a transformative student-led hybrid mentorship program, Medxmentor, which empowers health sciences undergraduates and young professionals in Uganda, presenting a case study of its implementation and outcomes. Participants in the program emphasized the importance of a structured mentorship program in easing access to mentorship. A structured hybrid mentorship program is an effective model to facilitate access to mentors both locally and externally which avails a wide range of expertise, resources, and networks to address the career indecisiveness, low self-esteem, and soft skills gap faced by young health professional students. The results from the program align with previous literature (3-5) describing the key benefits of mentoring. This resonates with the model described (15–18), which discusses the benefits of a reciprocal model of mentor-mentee interaction, which avails advice from experiences, support, and linkage to integral networks at the formative stage of development enabling mentees to make better academic and career decisions, learn critical soft skills and build self-esteem. Mentees and mentors also expressed concerns about identifying mentors and whether mentors are assigned or selected. If mentors are assigned, mentees and mentors indicate that the mentoring relationship is less likely to be based on mutual respect and shared interests and, therefore, less likely to be successful, which the program addressed by emphasizing the mentor-mentee relationship being holistic; the mentor and mentee being able to share interests, passions, and a career direction. The program's mentor-mentee matching process tried to consider this, but it was not entirely achieved. Mentor-mentee relationships that were holistic were reported to have a high level of satisfaction from both mentors and mentees. Our findings further suggest that concerns about mentoring mainly occur when participants’ experiences with the current mentoring programs and practices are not well aligned with the desired characteristics of successful mentoring relationships. Like in similar studies, this program highlighted the need for efficient monitoring and evaluation in achieving the goals of the program, mentees, and mentors (13). While using mentoring logs filled by the mentee and submitted after every mentoring session with the mentor, the program tracked the progress of the mentorship relationship goals. It was noted that mentoring pairs that were consistent in completing their logs had more successful outcomes. As previously implemented, the program's group mentorship model allowed mentees to tap into a wide range of facilitators on topics that the mentees' needs had guided. Mentees accessing such resourceful people outside their usual access niche have previously been reported to be very beneficial (14). The findings from this program also highlighted the need for the team running the program to have a skillset inclusive of, but not limited to, flexibility, decisiveness, delegation, interpersonal skills, innovativeness, and respect for deadlines. Feedback from the program's team emphasized the need for effective communication structures, continuous capacity building, team harmony initiatives, and routine meetings to successfully implement a student-led mentorship program (4,13). Limitations The program also faced limitations at various stages. Most notably, it had about 380 people that applied to be part of its first cohort, but the program could only accommodate 50 mentees, leaving significant unmet needs. Our program only involved undergraduate students at one medical school in Uganda, which may limit the generalizability of our findings. Additionally, only 67% of the participants in the program provided feedback, limiting the full range of perspectives and opinions about the program. Recommendations The program's findings highlight its effectiveness in addressing current barriers to mentoring, with particular attention to local context and desired mentor characteristics by mentees. Firstly, it is recommended that mentorship be integrated and introduced during the early stages of health professional students' training. By starting mentorship early, students can benefit from continuous guidance and support throughout their academic journey. Secondly, implementing a robust monitoring and evaluation system is essential to ensure the regular occurrence of mentoring sessions. This system will help maintain accountability and ensure mentors and mentees actively participate in the mentorship program. Moreover, mentee feedback emphasizes the importance of considering mentor availability when selecting mentors for the program. A carefully considered match between mentors and mentees based on availability can enhance the mentorship experience and foster a supportive learning environment. Looking ahead, the following essential steps should be taken: a) Scaling the Medxmentor program to other African medical schools will expand its impact and reach a broader pool of aspiring health professionals. b) Developing mentoring metrics will enable the systematic measurement of the mentorship program's progress and effectiveness. These metrics will provide valuable insights into the program's outcomes and areas for potential improvement. c) Conducting longitudinal studies of mentees can offer insights into the longer-term impacts of mentorship on their personal and professional development. Understanding the lasting effects of mentorship will help further refine and optimize the program's impact. By implementing the above recommendations, the Medxmentor program can continue to evolve and empower the next generation of healthcare professionals across Africa. Conclusion A structured mentorship program avails a solution to access mentorship while addressing both the needs of mentors and mentees. Such mentorship programs, leveraging online platforms, provide a broad niche of mentor resources and an efficient structure that can be easily replicated in various medical schools in low-resource settings. Declarations Ethical approval and consent to participate The Mbarara University of Science and Technology Research and Ethics Committee waived the need for ethics approval and the need to obtain consent for the collection, analysis, and publication of the retrospectively obtained and anonymized data for this study. Informed consent was diligently obtained from all participants involved in this study, ensuring their voluntary and informed participation Consent to publish Not Applicable Availability of Data and Materials All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article [and its supplementary information files]. Competing Interests No financial and non-financial interests declared Funding This work was not funded. Author Contributions ET & AS developed an idea for the Program. TE, SA, AL & MB designed and administered the monitoring and evaluation tools. TE & AL analyzed the data and wrote the first manuscript draft. IA, VO, KMM, SA MB, MPD, NJ, MJand NJ reviewed and edited. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. 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Available from: https://journals.lww.com/academicmedicine/Fulltext/2009/01000/Making_the_Most_of_Mentors__A_Guide_for_Mentees.37.aspx . Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files MEDXMENTORMENTORSHIPPROGRAMME.csv Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-3273697","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":235184607,"identity":"bdcc9ade-c6e7-4970-af48-b6c392fc8c16","order_by":0,"name":"Elvis 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Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Joseph","middleName":"","lastName":"Ssekitto","suffix":""},{"id":235184615,"identity":"b7039116-75f8-4666-ac9e-3dfebf3d1ed4","order_by":8,"name":"Josephine Naigaga","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Mbarara University of Science and Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Josephine","middleName":"","lastName":"Naigaga","suffix":""},{"id":235184616,"identity":"22d77034-54e9-4fb0-9211-17c845af0d96","order_by":9,"name":"Timothy Mwanje Kintu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Mbarara University of Science and Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Timothy","middleName":"Mwanje","lastName":"Kintu","suffix":""},{"id":235184617,"identity":"b2f5726a-8e3d-4041-83f9-cf58b92db1a5","order_by":10,"name":"Kiran Mitha Masood","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Seed Global Health","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Kiran","middleName":"Mitha","lastName":"Masood","suffix":""},{"id":235184618,"identity":"ae88fe6e-9c14-40b6-9035-ab85b59eb032","order_by":11,"name":"Victor Ohuruogu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"United Nations Foundation","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Victor","middleName":"","lastName":"Ohuruogu","suffix":""},{"id":235184619,"identity":"007cb8c8-a996-4f0a-8953-6d1cbedaf176","order_by":12,"name":"Joseph Ngonzi","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Mbarara University of Science and Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Joseph","middleName":"","lastName":"Ngonzi","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2023-08-18 04:09:25","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3273697/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3273697/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":43833631,"identity":"b97cd601-5154-4a00-abf9-a2410ad7209a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-09-28 14:16:41","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":11150,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eTeam performance in various areas of evaluation\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3273697/v1/29944dd16c904b61a8a093ec.png"},{"id":43833632,"identity":"a33252ee-7e5d-46d9-9b85-28dfd0997500","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-09-28 14:16:41","extension":"png","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":6052,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eSummary of the number of sessions mentees held with their mentors\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3273697/v1/76869be8638024daad1da818.png"},{"id":45026517,"identity":"e51aa5eb-51f0-40be-a159-fe4c12d21790","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-10-21 14:22:22","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":311139,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3273697/v1/38afc1ab-6a93-4af2-a829-5a4bc2ad39b0.pdf"},{"id":43833633,"identity":"664b0364-5253-46ad-96b4-14274c0aaf96","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-09-28 14:16:41","extension":"csv","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":107822,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"MEDXMENTORMENTORSHIPPROGRAMME.csv","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3273697/v1/b5160980b6317d914cd44677.csv"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Transformative Student-led Hybrid Mentorship Model Empowering Health Sciences Undergraduates and Young Professionals in Uganda: A MedXMentor Case Study","fulltext":[{"header":"INTRODUCTION","content":"\u003cp\u003eStudents pursuing health-related courses need access to mentorship and its benefits during their formative academic and career states (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e). In contemporary medical practice, studies have demonstrated the positive impact of mentorship, which includes reduced feelings of burnout and depression, heightened career satisfaction, and both personal and professional growth (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e). However, in Sub-Saharan African universities, structured mentorship programs are notably lacking (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCurrently, there is limited updated data on the student-to-faculty ratios in various medical schools in Uganda. However, Mbarara University Medical School has an estimated ratio of one member to seven students. This highlighted the fundamental need for establishing a mentorship initiative that leverages online and digital platforms to promote mentorship access while fully optimizing the benefits for health professions students. This gave rise to a structured student-led hybrid mentorship initiative monitored by student leaders and guided by the university administration that encompasses both online and physical interactions, referred to as Medxmentor, at Mbarara University of Science and Technology. The aims of this initiative included; fostering leadership, community engagement, and academic and professional career development to support young health professionals in identifying and actively engaging with mentors in professional development, career choices, and skill development, to create an engaging community of mentors for health professions students, to scale the mentorship initiative among students and youth pursuing a career in the health sector across Uganda and other African countries.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe primary aim of this study was to evaluate and assess the effectiveness of the student-led hybrid mentorship initiative, Medxmentor, in enhancing research capacity and professional development among undergraduate health sciences students and young professionals in Uganda.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eImplementation of the mentorship program\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec3\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003eTarget population\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe program was designed for undergraduate students pursuing health-related courses at Mbarara University of Science of Technology (MUST) under the Faculty of Medicine. MUST is a public university in Uganda offering undergraduate and postgraduate programs accredited by the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE). The Faculty of Medicine is located at the Mbarara campus, approximately 266 kilometers southwest of Kampala. The faculty has six undergraduate courses that include Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB), Bachelor of Pharmacy, Bachelor of Nursing, Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Bachelor of Physiotherapy, and Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Sciences, all of which are four years course duration except the Bachelors of Medicine and Surgery that requires five years.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eRecruitment of mentors and mentees\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, together with the Medical Students Association president, formed an interim secretariat of students who were tasked with coordinating the day-to-day activities of the program. A call for prospective mentees was made through an online Google form. Mentors were recruited into the program through recommendation and volunteer basis in line with their areas of expertise. The mentors and mentees were then paired based on the interests of both parties. This program planned to utilize two main models of mentorship:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMentorship models\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1. Dyadic or traditional mentorship utilizes a one-to-one mentorship between mentor and mentee (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e9\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e10\u003c/span\u003e). This enables the mentors and mentees to build close interpersonal relationships. This requires both mentor and mentee to meet for some required hours within a week with designed monitoring and evaluation tools for tracking and reporting progress.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2. Team group mentorship was through webinars and physical interactions through workshops and boot camps in which all mentees were clustered together for learning purposes. In team group mentoring, mentors from different fields of expertise form a coalition to share knowledge, with each mentor sharing unique but complementary knowledge from their various areas of specialty (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e9\u003c/span\u003e). Through this form of mentorship, the program organized weekly webinar sessions conducted online, while different mentees were also assigned to specific mentors for group learning sessions. A physical workshop was held every two months to provide a more interactive session with the mentors.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Methods","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eStudy population\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMentees were enrolled in the aforementioned five undergraduate medical programs. The recruitment of participants was conducted through the utilization of online application forms. To ensure a diverse and qualified pool of mentors, we recruited 24 mentors based on recommendations and their willingness to mentor students, considering their areas of expertise and career levels. Most of these mentors came from the medical profession. Mentees were subsequently divided up and placed to receive one of the two models of mentorship; dyadic mentorship and team group mentorship.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe cohort ran for six months, during which the secretariat organized weekly online webinar sessions while different mentees assigned to specific mentors participated in group learning sessions. A physical workshop was held every two months to provide a more interactive session with the mentors. Pre- and post-session assessment forms were utilized to collect data. Mentees under One-on-one mentorship were required to fill in the mentoring logs after their Mentor-mentee meetings.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eStudy design\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Medxmentor Secretariat used mixed methods, both quantitative and qualitative, to obtain data. The model designed for monitoring and evaluation of both one on one and group mentorships was based on the Kirkpatrick Model of Evaluation (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e11\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e12\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Kirkpatrick Model of Evaluation comprises four levels of evaluation that were modified to suit the program.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eReactions: This was assessed through evaluation forms after every session to quantify the feedback from both mentees and mentors on things that stood out and others requiring improvement within each session. At the end of the cohort, mentees were tasked to describe their general experiences throughout their interactions with the mentors and each other.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eLearning: This was done through continuous pre- and post-session assessments. Before each online or physical session, general sample questions were handed to mentees on the topic of discussion. The results from that session were then used to guide the mentor on specific learning topics. Post-session assessment forms were used to gauge mentees\u0026apos; knowledge levels.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eBehavior: Assessment was made via the one-on-one mentorship through a 2-way assessment from the mentors who provided reports on their mentees and from mentees\u0026rsquo; self-evaluation at the end of each meeting with their mentors via a structured mentoring log.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eResults: The results from the mentorship engagement are presented in the \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003eResults\u003c/span\u003e section.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis model was incorporated into the various feedback collection tools that included; Google form questionnaires and feedback forms, Filled mentoring logs, and Session attendance logs. Feedback was also collected in mid and end-cohort periods. These tools were used for pre-and post-session assessment during group activities (weekly webinars and physical workshops). The Mentoring logs were filled after every one-on-one Mentor-mentee meeting.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eData analysis\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eQuantitative Results were then summarized using descriptive statistics. The same tools, that is, Google form questionnaires, feedback forms, and mentoring logs, were used to obtain Qualitative data utilizing open-ended questions. These tools were pre-tested amongst secretariat members not involved in the question drafting process to ensure they were well understood and would collect the data they were meant to. The data was collected in English, and no translations were done. It was then coded and summarized using thematic analysis.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Results","content":"\u003cp\u003eParticipants Demographics.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEighty mentees were recruited through online application forms and enrolled in the group mentorship. Sixty percent (60%) of those mentees met the criteria for one-to-one mentorship and were assigned mentors. The remaining mentees were allowed to attend the group mentorship sessions. In the one-on-one model; 48 mentees were recruited from the five major undergraduate programs; Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery, Bachelor of Pharmacy, Bachelor of Nursing, Bachelor of Physiotherapy, and Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Science. \u0026nbsp;Of these, 64.4 % were male. The representation by year of study was; 4th year (44.4%), 2nd year (31.1%), 5th year (11.1%), 3rd year (8.9%), and 1st year (4.4%). The program had 24 mentors from various career levels: Of these, 11 were female, and only 3 were not Ugandan. The mentors were majorly from the medical profession.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eImplementation of different Mentorship activities.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor the one-on-one mentorship, 48 mentees were matched to 24 mentors. On the other hand, for the group Mentorship, online sessions were organized weekly on Wednesdays between April and September 2022, with an average attendance of 52% of mentees. These webinars were not limited to enrolled mentees but also included attendees from other Ugandan Universities and other African countries like Kenya. \u0026nbsp;The topics covered included goal setting, project planning, leadership, mentorship relationship, self-leadership, personal branding, healthy financial habits, and entrepreneurship skills.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePre- and post-session mentee assessments\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eResults from the pre-and post-session mentee assessment revealed an improvement in knowledge and skills, especially for the project planning webinar, where 68% of the attendees reported having an increased understanding of the basics of project management.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ea. Workshops\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eGrant Writing and Research Skills Workshop: This workshop, under the theme \u0026ldquo;Developing Research and Grant Writing Skills\u0026rdquo;, equipped 60 mentees with knowledge about the basics research skills for identifying a problem worth researching, research proposal and manuscript writing skills, the relevance of mentorship in research as well as developing interest in grant writing. 20% of the attendees reported having had an increased understanding of research concepts after the workshop based on their areas of interest.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eSoft Skills Workshop: This workshop themed, \u0026ldquo;Developing Research and Grant Writing Skills, \u0026apos;\u0026apos; Harnessing the power of soft skills to reclaim the future of healthcare across Africa\u0026apos;\u0026apos; equipped 40 mentees with the importance of soft skills in the current and future workplace, bridging the knowledge gap on soft skills in the healthcare courses in universities and developing mentees with CV writing knowledge. Following this workshop, 63% of the mentees submitted updated resumes to the team 1 week after the work, and 50% had a noticeable improvement in their CVs.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMonitoring and Evaluation\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1. The team\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn this cohort of Medxmentor, the Medxmentor Secretariat comprised 13 team members who are students in different health professional courses, and these served different roles in the Secretariat. Following an end-of-cohort team evaluation, team delegation was the best performing at 70%, while the least completed aspect was the attendance of team meetings at 56% (\u003cstrong\u003eTable 1\u003c/strong\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e2. Mentorship models\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ea. One-on-one Mentorship.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMentees were required to submit at least two mentoring logs monthly, which equated\u0026nbsp;to 2 mentorship meetings in a month. In addition, the program team created a\u0026nbsp;mentorship database, and details concerning when a mentorship log was submitted\u0026nbsp;were captured here. 53% of the mentees held five mentorship meetings with their mentors in 6 months (\u003cstrong\u003eFigure 2\u003c/strong\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e27% of the mentees achieved their goals for mentorship, and 34% were at the implementation stage of their action plans to achieve their goals. About 67% of the mentees in the first cohort who participated in the feedback collection activity reported finding it relatively convenient to reach their Mentors. \u0026nbsp;A significant majority of the mentees, (66.6%) rated their convenience in reaching out to their mentors at a satisfactory level of 3 or higher on a scale of 1 to 5. Furthermore, 52% of the mentors reported having made great and productive mentorship relationships with their mentees.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eb. Group Mentorship\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGroup mentorship monitoring was evaluated using the Likert scale and Kirkpatrick model to assess attendees\u0026apos; knowledge before and after the group mentorship session. 60% of the mentees reported increased awareness and understanding of the topic covered during the week, and at least 30% of the attendees reported incorporating the skills learned into their day-to-day work. A group of three students started up a project on Personal Branding following a session on personal branding.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMentee experiences.\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFollowing the cohort\u0026apos;s needs, mentees were asked to share their mentorship experiences, categorized under the following broad themes.\u003cbr\u003e\u0026nbsp;1. Professional development: The mentees highlighted that their mentors invested in their professional, clinical, and personal development. This enabled them to build a closer relationship with their mentees.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMentee 1, a 23-year-old male \u0026ldquo;It has been a worthwhile journey because I enjoyed working with my mentor. I\u0026rsquo;m glad she was the one for me because I was comfortable with her during our mentorship sessions. She understood and guided me on whichever topic I brought up and so made it easier for me to open up more about which I was finding difficulty in...\u0026rdquo;\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMentee 2, a 22-year-old male \u0026ldquo;The meetings with my mentor built me into the resilient and formidable lady I am today; willing to be at the front, determined and confident to always stand out. She was a mother figure; caring, understanding, inspirational, goal-oriented, and always encouraged me...\u0026rdquo;\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBased on the various sessions and different topics, mentees highlighted their experience with an introduction to various skill sets they needed to know were necessary for their careers.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMentee 3, a 23-year-old female \u0026ldquo;I found all the webinars that I attended very educational, with high-impact content and skills for survival in life, especially after school. They opened my eyes to the current trend in the job market, life skills such as project development, CV writing, and grants writing\u0026hellip;\u0026rdquo;\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e2. Goal-oriented study: Mentees also highlighted that the program enabled them to set direct goals for their medical school that can apply and guide them through their professional development journey.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMentee 4, a 24-year-old male \u0026ldquo;Before I joined the program, I wasn\u0026rsquo;t intentional about the many things I wanted to achieve in life. With guidance, I learned to develop SMART life goals, break them into smaller achievable ones and translate them to each day and month\u0026hellip;\u0026rdquo;\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e3. Inspirational engagements:\u0026nbsp;The sessions provided mentees valuable opportunities to engage with multiple mentors, hear their personal stories, and learn from their struggles during their youth. The captivating narratives of the mentors served as a powerful source of inspiration, motivating the mentees to strive for excellence in their journeys.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMentee 5, a 22-year-old female \u0026ldquo;\u003cem\u003eListening to several mentors narrate their success stories with immeasurable vigor and energy was entertaining: how they rose from the comfort of their medical undergraduate, masters, and Ph.D. degrees to venture into the business and research world and eventually succeeded was worth our ears. These gave us some lessons that we could draw on as young adults to enable us to impact and succeed in the contemporary and competitive world\u0026hellip;.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Discussion","content":"\u003cp\u003eIn this paper, we report on a transformative student-led hybrid mentorship program, Medxmentor, which empowers health sciences undergraduates and young professionals in Uganda, presenting a case study of its implementation and outcomes. \u0026nbsp;Participants in the program emphasized the importance of a structured mentorship program in easing access to mentorship. A structured hybrid mentorship program is an effective model to facilitate access to mentors both locally and externally which avails a wide range of expertise, resources, and networks to address the career indecisiveness, low self-esteem, and soft skills gap faced by young health professional students. The results from the program align with previous literature (3-5) describing the key benefits of mentoring. This resonates with the model described (15–18), which discusses the benefits of a reciprocal model of mentor-mentee interaction, which avails advice from experiences, support, and linkage to integral networks at the formative stage of development enabling mentees to make better academic and career decisions, learn critical soft skills and build self-esteem.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMentees and mentors also expressed concerns about identifying mentors and whether mentors are assigned or selected. If mentors are assigned, mentees and mentors indicate that the mentoring relationship is less likely to be based on mutual respect and shared interests and, therefore, less likely to be successful, which the program addressed by emphasizing the mentor-mentee relationship being holistic; the mentor and mentee being able to share interests, passions, and a career direction. The program's mentor-mentee matching process tried to consider this, but it was not entirely achieved. Mentor-mentee relationships that were holistic were reported to have a high level of satisfaction from both mentors and mentees. Our findings further suggest that concerns about mentoring mainly occur when participants’ experiences with the current mentoring programs and practices are not well aligned with the desired characteristics of successful mentoring relationships.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLike in similar studies, this program highlighted the need for efficient monitoring and evaluation in achieving the goals of the program, mentees, and mentors (13). While using mentoring logs filled by the mentee and submitted after every mentoring session with the mentor, the program tracked the progress of the mentorship relationship goals. \u0026nbsp;It was noted that mentoring pairs that were consistent in completing their logs had more successful outcomes. As previously implemented, the program's group mentorship model allowed mentees to tap into a wide range of facilitators on topics that the mentees' needs had guided. Mentees accessing such resourceful people outside their usual access niche have previously been reported to be very beneficial (14). \u0026nbsp;The findings from this program also highlighted the need for the team running the program to have a skillset inclusive of, but not limited to, flexibility, decisiveness, delegation, interpersonal skills, innovativeness, and respect for deadlines. Feedback from the program's team emphasized the need for effective communication structures, continuous capacity building, team harmony initiatives, and routine meetings to successfully implement a student-led mentorship program (4,13).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLimitations\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe program also faced limitations at various stages. Most notably, it had about 380 people that applied to be part of its first cohort, but the program could only accommodate 50 mentees, leaving significant unmet needs. Our program only involved undergraduate students at one medical school in Uganda, which may limit the generalizability of our findings. Additionally, only 67% of the participants in the program provided feedback, limiting the full range of perspectives and opinions about the program.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRecommendations\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe program's findings highlight its effectiveness in addressing current barriers to mentoring, with particular attention to local context and desired mentor characteristics by mentees. Firstly, it is recommended that mentorship be integrated and introduced during the early stages of health professional students' training. By starting mentorship early, students can benefit from continuous guidance and support throughout their academic journey. Secondly, implementing a robust monitoring and evaluation system is essential to ensure the regular occurrence of mentoring sessions. This system will help maintain accountability and ensure mentors and mentees actively participate in the mentorship program. Moreover, mentee feedback emphasizes the importance of considering mentor availability when selecting mentors for the program. A carefully considered match between mentors and mentees based on availability can enhance the mentorship experience and foster a supportive learning environment.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLooking ahead, the following essential steps should be taken:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ea) Scaling the Medxmentor program to other African medical schools will expand its impact and reach a broader pool of aspiring health professionals.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eb) Developing mentoring metrics will enable the systematic measurement of the mentorship program's progress and effectiveness. These metrics will provide valuable insights into the program's outcomes and areas for potential improvement.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ec) Conducting longitudinal studies of mentees can offer insights into the longer-term impacts of mentorship on their personal and professional development. Understanding the lasting effects of mentorship will help further refine and optimize the program's impact.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBy implementing the above recommendations, the Medxmentor program can continue to evolve and empower the next generation of healthcare professionals across Africa.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Conclusion","content":"\u003cp\u003eA structured mentorship program avails a solution to access mentorship while addressing both the needs of mentors and mentees. Such mentorship programs, leveraging online platforms, provide a broad niche of mentor resources and an efficient structure that can be easily replicated in various medical schools in low-resource settings.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003eEthical approval and consent to participate\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Mbarara University of Science and Technology Research and Ethics Committee waived the need for ethics approval and the need to obtain consent for the collection, analysis, and publication of the retrospectively obtained and anonymized data for this study.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eInformed consent was diligently obtained from all participants involved in this study, ensuring their voluntary and informed participation\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eConsent to publish\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot Applicable\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAvailability of Data and Materials\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article [and its supplementary information files].\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCompeting Interests\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNo financial and non-financial interests declared\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFunding\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis work was not funded.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAuthor Contributions\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eET \u0026amp; AS developed an idea for the Program. TE, SA, AL \u0026amp; MB designed and administered the monitoring and evaluation tools. TE \u0026amp; AL analyzed the data and wrote the first manuscript draft. IA, VO, KMM, SA MB, MPD, NJ, MJand NJ reviewed and edited. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAcknowledgments\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNone\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMullan F, Frehywot S, Omaswa F, Buch E, Chen C, Greysen SR, Wassermann T, Abubakr DE, Awases M, Boelen C, Diomande MJ, Dovlo D, Ferro J, Haileamlak A, Iputo J, Jacobs M, Koumar\u0026eacute; AK, Mipando M, Monekosso GL, Olapade-Olaopa EO, Rugarabamu P, Sewankambo NK, Ross H, Ayas H, Chale SB, Cyprien S, Cohen J, Haile-Mariam T, Hamburger E, Jolley L, Kolars JC, Kombe G, Neusy AJ. Medical schools in sub-Saharan Africa. 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Available at: \u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003ehttps://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2923.2008.03258.x\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrei E, Stamm M, Buddeberg-fischer B. (2010) \u0026lsquo;Mentoring programs for medical students - a review of the PubMed literature 2000\u0026ndash;2008\u0026amp;#8217.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBurgess A, Diggele C. Van and Mellis, C. (2018) \u0026lsquo;Mentorship in the health professions: a review\u0026rsquo;, pp.\u0026nbsp;1\u0026ndash;6. Available at: \u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003ehttps://doi.org/10.1111/tct.12756\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDdiba D. (2013). Mentorship: a missing link in education in Sub-Saharan Africa.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAdoga AA et al. (2019) \u0026lsquo;The undergraduate medical student \u0026rsquo;s perception of professional mentorship: Results from a developing nation \u0026rsquo;s medical school\u0026rsquo;, pp.\u0026nbsp;1\u0026ndash;5. Available at: \u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003ehttps://doi.org/10.4103/jehp.jehp\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIndyk D, Deen D, Fornari A, Santos MT, Lu W, hsin, Rucker L. The influence of longitudinal mentoring on medical student selection of primary care residencies. Published online 2011.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHenry-noel N et al. (2019) \u0026lsquo;Mentorship in Medicine and Other Health Professions\u0026rsquo;, (April 2018), pp.\u0026nbsp;629\u0026ndash;637.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWilliams JL et al. (2019) \u0026lsquo;Dyadic connections in the context of group mentoring: A social network approach\u0026rsquo;, (March 2018). Available at: \u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003ehttps://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.22180\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBates R. (2016) \u0026lsquo;A Critical Analysis of Evaluation Practice: the Kirkpatrick Model and the Principle of Beneficence A critical analysis of evaluation practice : the Kirkpatrick model and the principle of beneficence\u0026rsquo;, (March). Available at: \u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003ehttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2004.04.011\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eQuinton ML, Tidmarsh G, Parry BJ. A Kirkpatrick Model Process Evaluation of Reactions and Learning. from My Strengths Training for Life TM\u0026rsquo;; 2022.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDanielle, Nimmons. 1 Shaista Giny,2 Joe Rosenthal1. Medical student mentoring programs: current insights.Published 4 March 2019 Volume 2019:10 Pages 113\u0026ndash;23 \u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003ehttps://doi.org/10.2147/AMEP.S154974\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eElise P, Skjevik JD, Boudreau U, Ringberg E, Schei T, Stenfors M, Kvernenes, Eirik H. Ofstad. Group mentorship for undergraduate medical students\u0026mdash;a systematic review. Published online 2020 Aug 20. \u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003e10.1007/s40037-020-00610-3\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNational Academies of Sciences E, Affairs P, Workforce G, on HE B, Stemm C. on EM in, Dahlberg ML, Byars-Winston A. The Science of Mentoring Relationships: What Is Mentorship? In: The Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM [Internet]. National Academies Press (US); 2019 [cited 2023 Jul 26]. Available from: \u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003ehttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK552775/\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePololi L, Knight S. Mentoring faculty in academic medicine. J Gen Intern Med [Internet]. 2005 Sep 1 [cited 2023 Jul 26];20(9):866\u0026ndash;70. \u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003ehttps://doi.org/10.1111/j.1525-1497.2005.05007.x\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSambunjak D, Straus SE, Maru\u0026scaron;ić A. Mentoring in Academic MedicineA Systematic Review. JAMA [Internet]. 2006 Sep 6 [cited 2023 Jul 26];296(9):1103\u0026ndash;15. \u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003ehttps://doi.org/10.1001/jama.296.9.1103\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eZerzan JT, Hess R, Schur E, Phillips RS, Rigotti N. Making the Most of Mentors: A Guide for Mentees. Acad Med [Internet]. 2009 Jan [cited 2023 Jul 26];84(1):140. Available from: \u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003ehttps://journals.lww.com/academicmedicine/Fulltext/2009/01000/Making_the_Most_of_Mentors__A_Guide_for_Mentees.37.aspx\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Mentorship, Health Professions Students","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3273697/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3273697/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBackground\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStudents pursuing health-related courses need access to mentorship and its benefits during their formative academic and career states. Despite a few assertive health professions students knowing about mentorship, they also need help leveraging the various benefits of mentorship. The lack of a structured platform to ease access to mentorship. A student-led initiative dubbed Medxmentor was established to address these gaps. This study assessed the effectiveness of this hybrid mentorship initiative in enhancing research capacity and professional development among undergraduate health sciences students and young professionals in Uganda.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMethods\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBoth quantitative and qualitative methods were utilized to obtain data. The Kirkpatrick Model of Evaluation was utilized to assess mentees' emotions, learning, and behavior using Google Form questionnaires, feedback forms, and mentoring logs. Study results were summarized using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eResults\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere were 80 mentees recruited, with 48 (60%) qualifying for one-to-one mentorship and the rest participating in group mentorship sessions. The program had 24 mentors, primarily from the medical profession. The program also had three non-Ugandan mentors. Eight online sessions were organized for group mentorship between April and September 2022, with an average attendance of 52% of mentees. Three workshops were organized; a boot camp, grant writing, and soft skills. Sixty-eight percent (68%) of the project planning webinar attendees reported an increased understanding of the basics of project management. Four themes emerged on Mentee experiences; Mentor engagement, Goal oriented study, Skills and professional development, and High yield mentor-mentee engagements.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConclusion \u0026amp; Recommendations\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA structured mentorship program provides a solution to access mentorship and addresses the needs of mentors and mentees. The Medxmentor program leveraging online platforms provides a broad niche of mentor resources and an efficient structure that can be easily replicated in various medical schools in low-resource settings.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Transformative Student-led Hybrid Mentorship Model Empowering Health Sciences Undergraduates and Young Professionals in Uganda: A MedXMentor Case Study","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2023-09-28 14:16:36","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3273697/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"5aa43aef-6c49-489a-8e68-71ba97a097c0","owner":[],"postedDate":"September 28th, 2023","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2023-10-21T14:14:13+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2023-09-28 14:16:36","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-3273697","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-3273697","identity":"rs-3273697","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"FbvkV6FR0MCFSLy54lSbu","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}