Introduction:

This article reports on the experience of implementing and running a mentoring program for medical school students at a Brazilian university in the Midwest region. It is widely accepted that the pressure at medical school is detrimental to the students and often leads to emotional overload. Therefore, supporting mechanisms must be implemented.

Experience report:

The mentoring program at the Federal University of Goiás had a logical beginning. It was created in early 2015, after psychotherapy services offered to the students led to an in loco research study, which in turn pointed out the need to provide support to students throughout their undergraduate studies. There are some key characteristic aspects of the program: it’s an elective course, which can be taken up to 5 times, and the students can choose the workshops they want to attend in addition to the monthly meeting with the mentor, which allows for diverse paths to be followed. After twelve semesters in existence, this article presents a summary of some of the results obtained and reflections on the future of this program.

Discussion:

The implementation of the program and its adaptations resulted from research, professional development, discussions among professors and regular assessments by the mentees. Changes were made according to the expectations and suggestions of participating students, aiming to effectively meet their needs and represent a desirable course. Since its inception, the program has attracted increasingly more students, and enjoyed a strong positive evaluation, mainly due to the various workshops to choose from and engagement with the mentor.

Conclusion:

Universities should support the creation of such mentoring programs. The program discussed in this article has been well received and points towards positive outcomes.

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