Keywords: Primary care, Family medicine, Mentoring
Background:
The Italian Family Medicine is made even more complex not only by a shortage of professionals, but also by the generational transition between General Practitioner (GPs). For the professional development of the new generations of young general practitioners, it is essential to refer to the scientific heritage and experience of the expert medical profession, thus transferring real-life experiences from the older generation to the next generation.
Objectives: In the attempt to support the intergenerational transfer of GPs' skills, a mentoring training course was developed in 2021-2022 by LIUC Business School and Planning SRL. The aim of this contribution is to present the GP’s satisfaction regarding this innovative educational initiative.
Methods:
The course was based on the creation of couples of mentors and mentees, and comprised 3 online meetings, interspersed with activities performed individually/in pairs. The couples “mentor/mentee” were designed based on the GetFive questionnaire. During the course, participant filled in a survey, aimed at gathering their perceptions, according to a 5-item evaluation scale.
Results:
The course involved 240 GPs (120 couples). 88% of participants felt a high degree of compatibility with their mentor/mentee. Mentees were more satisfied about the programme (average value: 4.18 versus 3.52, p-value=0.013). The mentors declared they had learned something from their mentee: this phenomenon is quite natural and is part of a "reverse mentoring" perspective. 86% would repeat this training course, suggesting the participation to a further edition to other colleagues.
Conclusion(s):
This training course, based on mentoring methodology, is an effective tool for the development and professional growth of GPs. To better evaluate the mentoring activity and to be able to improve the process itself, it would be important to structure indicators that can evaluate the effectiveness of this path in terms of patient satisfaction and quality of care offered.
Points for discussion:
What indicators that can evaluate the effectiveness of this pathway in terms of patient satisfaction and quality of care provided.
Other mentoring experiences in General Practice in Europe.
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