Near-peer mentorship as a welcome ritual: exploring the what and how of McGill’s “Buddy program”

Authors

  • Sarah Moussa McGill University https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1016-0281
  • Nehal Islam McGill University
  • Aurgho Datta McGill University
  • Adam Hassan McGill University
  • Abdullatif Hassan McGill University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.36834/cmej.78902

Abstract

Implication Statement

Since 2015, the “Buddy Program,” a near-peer mentoring program operated by the McGill Student Society, has successfully welcomed 1,152 first-year medical students into medical school with the help of 848 dedicated second-year medical student mentors. This innovative, low-cost, time-efficient, automated and scalable model offers a reproducible framework and toolkit for similar institutions that wish to realize the benefits of near-peer mentoring. With unique features such as matching based on personal interests and continual improvements, such as the Meet-&-Greet event and associated orientation booklets, the program is a pioneering example of student-run near-peer mentorship.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

1. Kram KE. Mentoring at work: developmental relationships in organizational life. University Press of America; ISBN 081916755X,1988.

2. Bulte C, Betts A, Garner K, Durning S. Student teaching: views of student near-peer teachers and learners. Med Teach 2007;29:583-90. https://doi.org/10.1080/01421590701583824.

3. Akinla O, Hagan P, Atiomo W. A systematic review of the literature describing the outcomes of near-peer mentoring programs for first-year medical students. BMC Med Educ 2018;18:98. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-018-1195-1.

4. Lim S, Xin Min L, Chan CJW, Dong Y, Mikkonen K, Zhou W. Peer mentoring programs for nursing students: A mixed methods systematic review. Nurse Educ Today 2022;119:105577. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2022.105577.

5. McGill University Undergraduate Medical Admissions. Class profiles. 2024. Available from https://www.mcgill.ca/medadmissions/prospective/our-statistics/class-profiles [Accessed Jan 29, 2024].

Downloads

Published

2025-05-05

How to Cite

1.
Moussa S, Islam N, Datta A, Hassan A, Hassan A. Near-peer mentorship as a welcome ritual: exploring the what and how of McGill’s “Buddy program”. Can. Med. Ed. J [Internet]. 2025 May 5 [cited 2025 Dec. 5];16(4):67-70. Available from: https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/cmej/article/view/78902

Issue

Section

You Should Try This