Enhancing geriatric oncology training through a combination of novice mentoring and peer and near-peer mentoring: A thematic analysis ofmentoring in medicine between 2000 and 2017.

OBJECTIVES: Training in Geriatric Oncology is in crisis, facing increasing demands in the face of a growing population of older adults, a lack of trainers, and the need to adapt training to different settings and trainee needs. A combination of novice mentoring and near-peer and peer mentoring (C-NP mentoring) has been proposed to provide trainees with personalized training and additional support. This study proposes to evaluate the possibility of establishing a C-NP mentoring program in geriatric oncology, through extrapolation of data from well-established practices in Internal Medicine programs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A systematic scoping review was carried out to provide scope of prevailing data and highlight the key processes behind effective C-NP mentoring programs. Six reviewers carried out independent literature searches on C-NP mentoring in medicine using Embase, ERIC, PubMed, and Scopus databases for articles published between 1st January 2000 and 31st December 2017. The Best Evidence Medical Education (BEME) collaboration guide and the STORIES (STructured apprOach to the Reporting In healthcare education of Evidence Synthesis) statement were used to develop a narrative from the thematic analysis of selected articles. Braun & Clarke (2006)'s approach to thematic analyses [1] and Sambunjak et al. (2010)'s approach of "negotiated consensual validation" were then used to identify the final list of themes. RESULTS: 3913 citations were identified, 133 full-text articles were reviewed, and fifteen full-text articles were included. Thematic analysis was employed to circumnavigate mentoring's context-specific nature and identified ten semantic themes including the need, outcomes, obstacles, and improvements for C-NP mentoring, mentee and mentor participation and training, and matching and mentoring processes. CONCLUSION: Data from this review allows the forwarding of the C-NP Mentoring Framework that will potentially enhance Geriatric Oncology training. The framework ensures a balance of consistency in recruitment, training, matching, pre-mentoring meetings, assessments processes, and flexibility to inculcate personalized aspects to the training and support. The C-NP Mentoring Framework will also enable effective oversight of the program and timely support of mentees in need.

Educational roles as a continuum of mentoring's role in medicine - a systematic review and thematic analysis of educational studies from 2000 to 2018.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have gone to great lengths to differentiate mentoring from teaching, tutoring, role modelling, coaching and supervision in efforts to better understand mentoring processes. This review seeks to evaluate the notion that teaching, tutoring, role modelling, coaching and supervision may in fact all be part of the mentoring process. To evaluate this theory, this review scrutinizes current literature on teaching, tutoring, role modelling, coaching and supervision to evaluate their commonalities with prevailing concepts of novice mentoring. METHODS: A three staged approach is adopted to evaluate this premise. Stage one involves four systematic reviews on one-to-one learning interactions in teaching, tutoring, role modelling, coaching and supervision within Internal Medicine, published between 1st January 2000 and 31st December 2018. Braun and Clarke's (2006) approach to thematic analysis was used to identify key elements within these approaches and facilitate comparisons between them. Stage two provides an updated view of one-to-one mentoring between a senior physician and a medical student or junior doctor to contextualise the discussion. Stage three infuses mentoring into the findings delineated in stage one. RESULTS: Seventeen thousand four hundred ninety-nine citations were reviewed, 235 full-text articles were reviewed, and 104 articles were thematically analysed. Four themes were identified - characteristics, processes, nature of relationship, and problems faced in each of the four educational roles. CONCLUSIONS: Role modelling, teaching and tutoring, coaching and supervision lie within a mentoring spectrum of increasingly structured interactions, assisted by assessments, feedback and personalised support that culminate with a mentoring approach. Still requiring validation, these findings necessitate a reconceptualization of mentoring and changes to mentor training programs and how mentoring is assessed and supported.