Mentoring programs can be valuable tools for safeguarding the health and job satisfaction of medical interns
A stressful and demanding internship year has traditionally been regarded as a rite of passage for doctors in Australia. A heavy workload, long hours, new job performance anxieties, a hierarchical work environment, looming applications for specialist training programs: all place considerable stress on junior doctors, who experience high rates of fatigue, burnout and depression.1 With increasing focus on their mental health, support programs for interns, including mentoring, have been recommended by national professional bodies.2
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- 1. Beyond Blue. National mental health survey of doctors and medical students Australia 2013. https://www.beyondblue.org.au/docs/default-source/research-project-files/bl1132-report---nmhdmss-full-report_web (viewed Aug 2018).
- 2. Markwell AL, Wainer Z. The health and wellbeing of junior doctors: insights from a national survey. Med J Aust 2009; 191: 441-444. <MJA full text>
- 3. Chanchlani S, Chang D, Ong JSL, Anwar A. The value of peer mentoring for the psychosocial wellbeing of junior doctors: a randomised controlled study. Med J Aust 2018; 209: 401-405.
- 4. Hobson AJ, Ashby P, Malderez A, Tomlinson PD. Mentoring beginning teachers: what we know and what we don’t. Teaching and Teacher Education 2009; 25: 207-216.
- 5. DuBois DL, Holloway BE, Valentine JC, Cooper H. Effectiveness of mentoring programs for youth: a meta-analytic review. Am J Community Psychol 2002; 30: 157-197.
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