Abstract
To assess the students' perception regarding mentoring at different stages of their studies at a private-sector medical college.
The cross-sectional study was conducted from April 2012 to July 2014 at Bahria University Medical and Dental College, Karachi, and comprised students from first to fourth year. Data was collected through a self-administered questionnaire, which was developed after literature search and discussion. The total score for the 35 questions was used as the 'perception score' for the students. The perceptions among all students in an academic year were compared using the Kruskall-Wallis test for median score differences.
Of the 401 students approached, 341(85%) completed the survey. The median perception scores for personal support (p=0.81) and career advice (p=0.07) were not different across the four years. There was a significant difference in the perception scores for role modelling (p<0.001) and research collaboration (p=0.002). Students in pre-clinical years (1st/2nd years) rated their mentors higher on role modelling aspects of mentoring (p<0.001) compared to those in the clinical years (3rd/4th years).
Agreement for personal support had the highest score out of the four categories which was not different among all the four years. However, students' perception varied among preclinical and clinical groups when it came to the matter of career advising and role modelling.