SynthesisBMC medical education2018
A systematic review of the literature describing the outcomes of near-peer mentoring programs for first year medical students.
Synthesis in BMC medical education, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 95 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
95 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 244 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Comprehensive Evidence on the Effectiveness and Experiences of Mentoring Programmes for Managers in Healthcare: A Mixed-Methods Systematic Review.Journal of nursing management · 2026Pooled it
- A systematic review of honey bee (Apis mellifera, Linnaeus, 1758) infections and available treatment options.Veterinary medicine and science · 2023Pooled it
- A systematic review on risk factors for khat chewing among adolescents in the African continent and Arabian Peninsula.PloS one · 2022Pooled it
- Student support systems for undergraduate medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic narrative review of the literature.BMC medical education · 2021Pooled it
- A Systematic Umbrella Review on the Epidemiology of Modifiable Health Influencing Factors and on Health Promoting Interventions Among University Students.Frontiers in public health · 2020Pooled it
- Mentored implementation to initiate a diabetes program in an underserved community: a pilot study.BMJ open diabetes research & care · 2021Trial
- Be a buddy: implementation and trainee perspectives on a near-peer mentorship program.Medical education online · 2026Article
- Experience and perceived requirements of a peer mentoring program in undergraduate nursing education: insights from faculty and students.BMC nursing · 2026Article
- Project SCORE (Student-Centered Outcomes Research Experience).Education sciences · 2026Article
- Considerations for Co-creating a Culture of Well-being at your Medical Institution.Medical science educator · 2026Article
- Development and Evaluation of a Mentor Handbook to Support Accelerated Pathway to Medical Education (APME) Students.Cureus · 2026Article
- The collaboration of surgical education fellows' (CoSEF) guide to designing, executing, and publishing surgical education research.Global surgical education : journal of the Association for Surgical Education · 2026Article
- Near-peer mentorship for newly qualified doctors; what are the benefits, and what methods can be used to overcome the pitfalls?Medical education online · 2025Review
- Challenges in anatomy education among Sudanese medical students during the 2023 armed conflict: a cross-sectional survey.BMC medical education · 2025Article
- Training learning assistants to employ inclusive pedagogy and teaching tools in the classroom.Journal of microbiology & biology education · 2025Article
- We should nudge clinicians and trainees to participate in health professions education programmes.Medical education · 2025Review
- Peer Mentoring as a Community of Practice in Medical Education.The clinical teacher · 2025Article
- Unpacking medical students' resit experiences: a qualitative study of early years medical students´ experiences of a peer-assisted learning programme during summer resit exams.Medical education online · 2025Article
- Health Professional Students Prefer Study Advice from Institutionally Affiliated Sources Over Internet "Med-fluencers".Medical science educator · 2025Article
- Attainment of medical student learning outcomes following general practice specialty trainee supervision: a pilot study.BJGP open · 2025Article
35 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundTransition into higher education has been identified as one of the most stressful periods for learners. Interventions targeting the transition phase such as near- peer mentoring might help address some of these challenges. We were however unable to identify a published systematic review of the literature describing outcomes of near-peer mentoring of medical students during the transition phase into medical school. The aim of this paper is to review the literature and describe the outcomes of near-peer mentoring schemes for first-year medical students in the transition phase.
methodsA search of different electronic databases was carried out, using the search terms peer, buddy, mentor*, counsel*, advise*, tutor*, student, medical, school. 1861 articles were identified, however only 5 studies met the inclusion criteria- primary mentees should be first-years, and mentors must be inclusive of second-years but not limited to them. In reporting this paper, the PRISMA guidelines were followed.
resultsPublished material on near-peer mentoring for medical students is scarce. Three outcomes for peer mentoring were identified- professional and personal development, stress reduction, and ease of transitioning. Incidentally, peer-mentoring was also found to have facilitated the development of personal and professional attitudes in the mentors. The quality of the evaluation methods in the studies was however low to moderate.
conclusionNear-peer-mentoring is a way of promoting professional and personal development. It is also promising to aid transition and maintain well-being of first-year medical students. However, larger, better quality longitudinal studies, are needed to ascertain its true value for these students.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.