The challenges of mentorship system at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences and providing solutions from the perspective of mentors, students and collaborators

Background: The mentorship system faces many challenges in implementation for various reasons. This study examines challenges of the mentorship system and provides solutions. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in three stages at the Tabriz University of Medical Sciences in 2016. First, in order to determine the current status of the mentorship system, the existing documents in the faculties and the collection of information from the mentor, educational deputies and group managers and experts, as well as students were used. Sampling of mentors, deputies and department managers and experts of the counseling system was conducted by census and randomly for students. In order to determine the challenges in the mentorship system, a focused group discussion session was held with the presence of faculty mentors who had at least two years of experience as mentors and educational deputies. Finally, in order to provide corrective measures to improve the quality of the system, a meeting was held with the participants who attended the group discussion session of the second stage of the study. To analyze the information in the quantitative part of the study, descriptive statistics were used through SPSS 17 software and to analyze the information related to the group discussion sessions, content analysis was used. Results: The current situation of the mentorship system in all faculties at the Tabriz University of Medical Sciences was considered in terms of students and identified indicators with an average of 47.9 in the average range. The highest score obtained for the item “the formation of a file for each student with the confidentiality of personal, educational, social and economic information” had an average of 59.3 and the lowest score was seen for the item “holding regular counseling sessions” with an average of 36.4. Analysis of data from a focused group discussion led to the identification of three main themes: organizational challenges, challenges related to professors active in the mentorship system, and challenges related to students. In addition, 18 solutions to the challenges were presented. Conclusion: Despite the success and relative satisfaction with the mentorship system, there are challenges in several dimensions. Fortunately, the challenges in this area were such that it was possible to resolve them within the organization, and appropriate solutions were provided to solve each of the challenges, which are discussed in the text of the article.