Why did Medical Graduates Appreciate Mentored Student Project? Perspectives of Two Theories

Background: Medical doctors have to develop in professionalism in addition to become competent in clinical skills. Therefore, educators in Melaka Manipal Medical College have inculcated personal and professional development (PPD) projects into medical curriculums. The projects were in the form of Role Plays/Narratives/Creative writing and Mentored Student Project (MSP). Short terms outcomes of the projects were evaluated, and the research disclosed the positive effect of all PPDs on medical students. However, the long-term effect was yet to be evaluated. The findings of the previous study have not explained why those PPD projects are successful. While twenty fresh medical graduates were asked to reflect on one best learning experience as a qualitative evaluation of the programme, students’ appreciation of MSP disclosed. This study aimed to explore the students’ reflection to identify the reasons for their appreciation of MSP and the long-term effect of it. Study Design: Qualitative research. Methodology: Three reflective writings by fresh graduates were analyzed using the interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach. Students expressed their conscious perceptions about MSP in the form of words in their reflections. The researcher carefully read the reflections and interpret the words and phrases to catch the students’ perception of MSP. Results: The qualitative analysis revealed the reasons for participating in MSP and their appreciation about MSP. The main reason for students’ participation in MSP was to fulfill the requirement of the medical programme although one student mentioned that she was interested in MSP due to the nature of MSP. Four themes were formulated as reasons for their appreciation of MSP: (1) having an opportunity to choose their research topic, (2) the presence of a mentor to guide each student group, (3) opportunity for the poster presentation on results of MSP and (4) satisfaction with the overall outcome of the MSP. Conclusion: This study highlights the long-term impacts of MSP on students which matched with the expected learning outcomes set by Ministry of Education Malaysia. The analysis disclosed not only the outcome but also the process of MSP contribute for its success.