Introduction:

The constant stream of news about the Covid-19 pandemic in the media has contributed to information overload and daily insecurities. For medical students, these changes can have an even more significant effect, as they already suffer a certain degree of illness and their quality of life is impaired by academic stress. In these situations, strategies for reflection, speech and active listening can be useful for mental health.

Experience report:

This report presents, in a descriptive way, the reflective analysis of the student’s perception of the facilities and adversities experienced during the social distancing measures enforced by the Covid-19 pandemic and how participation in mentoring interfered in this process. The students answered a questionnaire of six open-ended questions about their experiences and mental health, to reflect and better understand the current situation and thus enhance the mentoring program meetings, supporting and minimizing any negative impact on the students’ mental health. After informed consent was agreed by the participants and approval given by the Ethics Committee, thematic content analysis of the answers was performed anonymously and collectively by the students themselves. The core meanings were sought from reading the textual corpus, thus identifying the units of analysis.

Discussion:

There were twelve respondents, representing a response rate of 92.3% of the students to whom the questionnaire was sent, reporting the impact on their mental health, their inner reflections and adaptive mechanisms and mentoring as a safe environment of support.

Conclusion:

The analysis revealed that many students are facing difficulties in adapting, especially regarding mental health, reporting issues such as emotional instability, revolt and frustration. However, positivity, development of hobbies, increased self-knowledge and communication with family members were reported. Despite the limitations presented by the remote meetings, there were no adverse effects of using the program and achieving its objectives.

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