Mentorship Program Offers Insight to Students’ Self-Efficacy Interested in Medicine

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness and outcomes of a new mentorship program pairing medical students with high school students interested in attending medical school. Specifically, the aims of the program were looking at the self-efficacy of the process of application and entrance into medical school of high school students, the familiarity of the specialties/subspecialties in medicine, the confidence of pursuing a career in medicine, and the attitudes regarding the success of the mentorship program. Design/Methodology/Approach: The researchers used a pre and post survey method; comparing qualitative data from responses to the surveys prior to the mentorship program and following the mentorship program. Findings: The results demonstrate much higher self-efficacy of the mentees regarding the medical school “journey” especially in the process of application to medical school and the knowledge of specialties/subspecialties. Surprisingly, mentees were found to have less confidence in successfully completing medical school following the mentorship program than prior to the program.