Learning curve and functional outcomes after laser enucleation of the prostate for benign prostate hyperplasia according to surgeon's caseload

PURPOSE

To evaluate the impact of surgical caseload on safety, efficacy, and functional outcomes of laser enucleation of the prostate (LEP) applying a structured mentoring program.

METHODS

Patient characteristics, perioperative data, and functional outcomes were analyzed descriptively. Linear and logistic regression models analyzed the effect of caseload on complications, functional outcomes and operative speed. Within the structured mentoring program a senior surgeon was present for the first 24 procedures completely, for partial steps in procedures 25-49, and as needed thereafter.

RESULTS

A total of 677 patients from our prospective institutional database (2017-2022) were included for analysis. Of these, 84 (12%), 75 (11%), 82 (12%), 106 (16%), and 330 patients (49%) were operated by surgeons at (A) < 25, (B) 25-49, (C) 50-99, (D) 100-199, and (E) ≥ 200 procedures. Preoperative characteristics were balanced (all p > 0.05) except for prostate volume, which increased with caseload. There was no significant difference in change of IPSS, Quality of life, ICIQ, pad usage, peak urine flow, residual urine, and major complications (Group A: 8.3 to E: 7.6%, p = 0.2) depending on the caseload. Caseload was not associated (Odds ratio: 0.7-1.4, p > 0.2) with major complications in the multivariable logistic regression model. Only operating time was significantly shorter with increasing caseload in the multivariable analysis (111-55 min, beta 23.9-62.9, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

With a structured mentoring program, the safety and efficacy of LEP can be ensured even during the learning curve with very good outcome quality. Only the operating time decreases significantly with increasing experience of the surgeon.

Survey of the triple-mentoring program for students at a religious medical school

BACKGROUND

Tzu Chi University in Taiwan offers a unique mentoring program. This program differs from others as it comprises triple mentorship, namely, faculty mentors, Tzu Cheng/Yi De (TC/YD; senior volunteers), and school counselors. This study aimed to survey the role functions of the mentors from the perspective of medical students.

METHODS

The Role Functions of the Mentoring Program Scale (RFMPS) was developed on the basis of literature reviews and focus groups and it underwent exploratory factor analysis for internal consistency and reliability. RFMPS comprises four role functions, namely, mental, educational, career, and humanistic/moral guidance counseling. The survey was distributed to 171 medical students via an online network with two-month intervals and was analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance.

RESULTS

The overall response rate was 64% (116/171). The mean scores of the four role functions in descending order belonged to faculty mentors, TC/YD, and school counselors. For humanistic/moral guidance, students had an equal preference for the faculty mentors and TC/YD over school counselors. As for educational, career, and mental guidance counseling, students preferred faculty mentors over TC/YD and school counselors. Faculty mentors provided students with the required guidance counseling for all the four role functions, especially educational guidance; TC/YD in particular offered prominent humanistic/moral guidance and career counseling; school counselors were less preferred but guided students in need.

CONCLUSIONS

Medical students value different role functions provided by faculty mentors, TC/YD, and school counselors. A diversified focus could be provided by the faculty mentors, particularly in educational, career, mental, and humanistic/moral counseling; TC/YD specialized in humanistic/moral guidance; and the school counselors carried out their role function only when needed. Humanistic/moral guidance is equally preferred to other types of guidance, which can be equally valuable in future mentoring programs.

Ambiguity tolerance among medical students and its relationship with personality and participation in the mentoring program: A cross-sectional study

Background

Low ambiguity tolerance (AT) can lead to burnout and impact medical students' quality of life. Interventions are effective in increasing tolerance in ambiguous situations. Mentors can be facilitators in ambiguous situations. We aimed to determine the AT among Tehran University of medical sciences (TUMS) medical students and assess its relation with personality traits and mentor-seeking behavior.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was designed. We used Budner AT questionnaire and the Ten Item Personality Inventory in our study. Questionnaires were sent to 350 randomly selected TUMS medical students in different years of education. Two hundred six students completed the questionnaires. The response rate was 58.85%.

Results

The mean AT score was 59.77 among TUMS medical students. No significant difference was seen between different genders and students with different marital statuses. Also, AT was constant among students at different years at medical school and at different education levels (P > 0.05). Students who had participated in the mentoring program were significantly more intolerant of novel situations (P = 0.01). However, they did not have significantly different scores in other subscales of AT scale and its total score than those who had not participated in the mentoring program (P > 0.05).

Conclusion

Medical students are more intolerant of ambiguity at TUMS than medical students abroad, and there should be interventions to help them cope in ambiguous situations. Mentoring programs may also be considered for future interventions as participants who participate in the program are less tolerant of ambiguity in novel situations.

Leadership and mentoring in medical physics: The experience of a medical physics international mentoring program

Mentoring aims to improve careers and create benefits for the participants' personal and professional lives. Mentoring can be an individual or a shared experience for a group, while the mentor's role remains the same in both models. Mentors should increase confidence, teach, inspire, and set examples, helping the mentees to mould their path, contributing to the pursuit of their personal and professional goals. This study aims to report on the experience of early-career medical physics professionals and postgraduate students participating in a global mentoring program and to assess the impact of this activity on their professional development. The objectives of this mentoring program are to develop leadership roles among young medical physicists and to provide guidance and support. An online questionnaire was administered to the mentee participants. The analysis of their responses is reported in this work and the current status of the programme was examined using a SWOT analysis. In general, the mentoring experience had a positive impact on the mentees. The mentors were found especially helpful in the decision-making situations and in other conflicts that may arise with career development. Additionally, the mentees felt that mentoring contributed to the development of leadership skills required for the job market and assist in personal development. This paper concludes that participation of young medical physicists in a mentoring group program is beneficial to their career and therefore should be encouraged.

The effect of mentoring program on adjustment to university and ways of coping with stress in nursing students: A quasi-experimental study

BACKGROUND

Mentoring programs are effective in improving some characteristics related to university adaptation, such as increasing student satisfaction, gaining social skills and effective communication, reducing stress and anxiety, and improving cognitive and psychomotor skills as well as academic performance.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of mentoring program on adjustment to university and ways of coping with stress in nursing students.

DESIGN

This quasi-experimental study was carried out using a nonrandomized control group pretest and posttest design.

SETTING

The study was conducted at a university school of nursing in Turkey.

PARTICIPANTS

Ninety-one first-year undergraduate nursing students were included in the study.

METHODS

The 8-week peer mentoring program was conducted with the experimental group. The Adjustment to University Scale (AUS) and The Ways of Coping Inventory (WCI) were measured at preintervention and postintervention.

RESULTS

The posttest mean scores of AUS of the experimental group were statistically higher than the control group (p < .05). The posttest mean scores of optimistic and seeking social support approaches of the experimental group were also statistically higher than the control group (p < .05). Mentoring program had an effect on self-confident, optimistic, seeking social support, submissive, and helpless approaches in the experimental group (p < .05).

CONCLUSION

Mentoring program had a positive effect on adjustment to university and ways of coping with stress in nursing students. These study results indicate that this program can be used to increase the adjustment to university and ways of coping with stress in nursing students.

[Mentoring for medical students : Description and evaluation of a differentiated mentoring program at a medical school]

In recent years, mentoring programs for medical students have been increasingly implemented in medical schools in Germany. This article describes a voluntary mentoring program for students, which is differentiated into a common mentoring program (AP), a mentoring program for excellent students (EP) and a mentoring plus program (PP) for students with academic difficulties, and its evaluation.The evaluation is based on annual evaluation surveys among the participating mentees, who evaluate the mentoring relationship as well as the impact on their studies.The three student groups differ significantly with regard to sociodemographic variables. The satisfaction with the mentoring program is generally high: 84-94% are mentored by their preferred mentor, the majority assesses the conversational atmosphere as open (78-91%), and 89-98% would recommend participation in the program to others. The programs differ with regard to specific aspects. While PP mentees report the highest ratings on the mentor's accessibility, trustworthiness and feedback, EP mentees report the highest ratings on the mentor's competence as well as increased identification with the faculty and early career promotion through the mentoring program.The different assessments of the three programs as well as the generally high acceptance and satisfaction ratings indicate that such a differentiated mentoring program provides a framework of individual support, which is highly appreciated by most students.

Examining the wider context of formal youth mentoring programme development, delivery and maintenance: A qualitative study with mentoring managers and experts in the United Kingdom

Mentoring programmes are commonplace, yet little is known about the circumstances in which they operate. This study aimed to gain insight into the context surrounding youth mentoring programmes by asking programme managers and experts in the United Kingdom about their experiences. Telephone interviews with twenty-three programme managers and five experts were undertaken. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed iteratively using thematic analysis. Contextual influences at the individual-, interpersonal-, organisational-, community-, policy-, and societal-level were identified to impact on programme's development, delivery and maintenance and were summarised in a model. This study further found that youth mentoring programmes operate within a complex context. This context provides challenges and opportunities that impact on programme's sustainability; resulting in many externally-funded programmes to 'hang by a thread'. It is important for service providers, commissioners and academics to recognise the complexity surrounding mentoring programmes to ensure that programmes are delivered as intended and evaluated appropriately.

Developing a typology of mentoring programmes for young people attending secondary school in the United Kingdom using qualitative methods

Mentoring programmes are commonplace and delivered in a range of different ways in the United Kingdom and North America. To better understand the type of programmes available and to inform future evaluations, we developed a typology of formal mentoring programmes for young people in secondary schools in the United Kingdom. Telephone interviews with 23 programme managers from purposively sampled mentoring organisations were conducted and analysed using thematic and framework analysis. The typology was consulted on with five experts in mentoring. The final typology differentiates mentoring programmes by three overarching categories: type of mentor (older student, school staff, adult volunteer, paid adult), programme setting (school, community, online) and programme aim. The findings suggest that although mentoring programmes are heterogeneous, it is possible to group programmes into 'personal and developmental' and 'academic and employability' mentoring programmes and to differentiate between 12 overall mentoring models. The typology helps understand what is being delivered and how, which is a necessary precursor to any evaluation of health, educational, relational and social outcomes.

Developing Mentoring Competency: Does a One Session Training Workshop Have Impact?

OBJECTIVE

Mentorship remains vital to the career development, research productivity, and professional advancement of healthcare professionals in all disciplines of academic medicine. Recent studies describe mentor training initiatives aimed at increasing mentoring competency through multisession training curricula. Although the published results of these programs are promising, they require the following: (1) substantial financial resources from the institution, and (2) continuous participation and time commitment from faculty, which may reduce participation and effectiveness.

METHOD

A single, half-day of evidence-based mentor training would represent a more cost-effective and accessible option for educating mentors. The present study investigates the impact of a half-day interactive mentor training workshop on mentoring competency in faculty, staff, and trainees of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences at McMaster University.

RESULTS

Overall, participants' self-reported mentoring competency mean scores were significantly higher post-workshop compared to pre-workshop ratings [mean = 4.48 vs. 5.02 pre- and post-workshop, respectively; F(1, 31) = 18.386, P < 0.001, η p2 = 0.37]. Survey respondents gave positive feedback and reported greater understanding of mentorship and specific mentoring changes they planned to apply after attending the workshop.

CONCLUSION

Academic and healthcare institutions may use this framework to guide the development of a half-day mentoring workshop into their education programs.

The effectiveness and implementation of mentoring program for newly graduated nurses: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

Newly graduated nurses suffer from occupational stress during the transition from school to employment as a result of inadequacy, interpersonal relationships, and the overwhelming workload. Mentoring programs have proved effective in facilitating this transition.

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the effectiveness of a mentoring program on the mentor, mentee, and organization.

METHODS

The Cochrane Library, Medline, Ovid, Elsevier, Embase, CINAHL, CBM, CNKI, and WanFang Data databases were searched to identify relevant publications in English or Chinese up to October 2014.

DESIGN

This is a systematic review.

RESULTS

This review identified nine potentially eligible studies, and the methodological quality levels of the included studies were all ranked as level B. These studies revealed that the turnover rate can be decreased through a mentoring program. Additionally, mentoring can enhance nursing competency and establish a supportive workforce environment, resulting in positive outcomes.

CONCLUSION

This review reveals that a mentoring program has positive effects on the mentors, mentees, and organizations. A successful mentorship program should include rigorous mentor selection and adequate training. Additionally, potential barriers such as time constraints and scheduling limitations should be taken into consideration during implementation.