Near-Peer Mentorship Program Adapts Structure to Support Medical Students Pursuing Psychiatry

A longitudinal near-peer mentorship program established in 2022 by the Psychiatry Student Interest Group Network, a psychiatry clerkship director, and a psychiatry residency program demonstrated that restructuring pairing criteria and programmatic focus was necessary to sustain engagement between medical students and resident mentors. Rising interest in psychiatry among graduating medical students provided the context for the initiative, supported by prior observations that mentorship contributes to academic success, career satisfaction, and wellness. Organizers noted that guidance on structuring near-peer trainee programs was limited in the published literature, prompting them to reference a 2023 scoping review of resident-level mentorship that emphasized protected time, clear goals, mentor training, and compatible pairings. Although predetermined medical school curriculum schedules prevented the provision of protected meeting time, a formal program was launched to connect medical students with psychiatry resident mentors.

During the inaugural year of the program, 21 medical student mentees and 16 psychiatry resident mentors enrolled. The mentee cohort comprised nine first-year students, six second-year students, five third-year students, and one student completing a dedicated research year. The mentor cohort included five postgraduate year one residents, six postgraduate year two residents, three postgraduate year three residents, and two postgraduate year four residents. To optimize pairing compatibility, all participants submitted intake forms documenting their training year, career objectives, and specific clinical interests. Organizers established an expectation for dyads to meet on a monthly basis and distributed general programmatic goals to all participants before launching the interactions.

At the conclusion of the first academic year, an anonymous survey incorporating multiple-choice, Likert-scale, and free-response items was distributed to evaluate meeting regularity, mentorship satisfaction, discussion topics, and operational challenges. A total of 21 participants responded, representing 11 of the 21 enrolled mentees and 10 of the 16 resident mentors. Among these survey respondents, 52 percent (11 of 21) reported meeting with their designated partner at least once every two months. Scheduling conflicts emerged as the most common impediment to monthly sessions, cited by 38 percent (6 of 16) of responding participants.

The first-year evaluation also indicated practical avenues for logistical improvement, as 57 percent of respondents (12 of 21) agreed that monthly reminder emails would support meeting consistency. When asked about conversation content, 62 percent of respondents (13 of 21) identified medical school advice as a primary topic, 57 percent (12 of 21) discussed residency advice, and 43 percent (9 of 21) reported addressing general life advice. Overall reception among mentees was favorable, with 91 percent (10 of 11 mentee respondents) expressing high satisfaction with the mentorship received. Concurrently, 90 percent of resident mentors (9 of 10 mentor respondents) requested didactic sessions or group support tailored to developing effective mentorship skills.

In response to first-year participant feedback, the leadership team instituted several programmatic modifications during the second year. The student leader sent recurring monthly reminders directing mentees to initiate contact with their mentors, while the residency liaison provided updates and reminders during monthly residency gatherings. To address mentors’ requests for instruction, the psychiatry clerkship director delivered didactic sessions exploring mentor roles, core skills, and institutional supports. Survey feedback at the end of the second year was limited, prompting the collection of unstructured mentor feedback during a residency-wide meeting and an open invitation for mentees to contact the program liaison.

The second-year implementation revealed persistent differences in longitudinal engagement across training stages. Despite reminder systems and mentor didactics, dyads pairing preclinical medical students struggled to maintain regular meetings, whereas third- and fourth-year medical students consistently sustained meetings throughout the academic year. Program leaders attributed this disparity to the intensive demands of preclinical coursework and the lack of clinical immersion needed to solidify career commitment. In contrast, clinical-stage students who had completed psychiatry clerkships actively sought mentorship to deepen specialty exposure and navigate professional pathways.

Based on these findings, the third iteration of the mentorship program restricted individual dyadic pairings exclusively to third- and fourth-year medical students intending to apply to psychiatry. To continue engaging first- and second-year students without imposing infeasible recurring schedules, large-group networking events were organized across the year by the interest group network, residency leadership, and clerkship leadership. A dedicated survey administered to third- and fourth-year students planning a psychiatry career revealed an almost unanimous request for targeted residency application guidance, including personal statement review, virtual interviewing strategies, scheduling of clinical electives, scholarly projects, and fourth-year organizational management.

The targeted needs of clinical-stage mentees prompted clerkship and residency directors to provide resident mentors with updated application guidelines, encompassing revisions to the standard residency application form and the newly instituted program signaling process. Mentors were also directed toward national guidance from bodies such as the Association of American Medical Colleges. Having completed four continuous years of implementation, the authors concluded that maintaining mentorship programs requires iterative evaluation, leadership flexibility, and administrative support, including faculty didactics and feedback systems that help resident mentors navigate evolving national application processes.

Subject of Research: Development and evaluation of a near-peer mentorship program pairing medical students with psychiatry residents

Article Title: Lessons Learned in Developing a Near-Peer Mentorship Program for Medical Students and Psychiatry Residents

Article References: Ro, G. S., Suen, W.-L., & Cardella, L. (2026). Lessons Learned in Developing a Near-Peer Mentorship Program for Medical Students and Psychiatry Residents. Academic Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-026-02475-w

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1007/s40596-026-02475-w

Keywords: near-peer mentorship, psychiatry education, medical students, psychiatry residency, medical education, career mentoring, residency match, program evaluation, Lessons, Learned, Developing, Near-Peer