Factors Influencing the Student Mentoring in the Field of Medical Sciences: A Qualitative Study

Student mentoring is influenced by various aspects whose purposeful alignment lead to high-quality training of students and eventually introducing successful graduates, especially in the field of medical sciences.

The data of the present qualitative study were collected via 16 Semi-structured interviews with mentor professors at Shiraz University of medical sciences. To analyze the interviews, content analysis was applied.

Through the present study, 45 basic themes were extracted. Then thematic structures combined and analyzed and 19 organizing themes were obtained. In the next step, 7 comprehensive themes were obtained, which were: human variable (mentor and mentee), and clinical, educational, social, and research components.

According to the results of the study, various variables are involved in effective mentoring during college life, particularly in the field of medical sciences. These variables should be scrutinized at different levels of university management.