F1.01 - IGNITE: Mentoring - A Mutually Beneficial Partnership for Undergraduate Public Health Students

Brief Abstract Summary: Recognize that mentorship is a key element in both personal and professional development and fosters connection and inclusion for undergraduate students.

Learn how a mentoring program has been embedded into two undergraduate courses, where students in CHE 480 Senior Capstone mentor students in HED 210 Foundations of Health Education.

Acknowledge that this mentoring relationship is mutually beneficial, and builds skills in networking, leadership, communication, cultural awareness, providing feedback, scheduling, and time management.

Detailed abstract description: Mentorship is a key element in both personal and professional development and fosters connection and inclusion. Over the past five semesters, CHE 480 Senior Capstone students worked with HED 210 Foundations of Health Education students during 3-4 mentoring sessions. CHE 480 students are Public Health and Community Health Education (PHCHE) majors in their last semester on campus and HED 210 Foundations of Health Education students are newly declared PHCHE majors or still deciding. This makes for an optimal course matching for this program, with mentors being at the end and mentees being at the beginning of the program, and the same instructor teaches both courses.

Initiating this mentoring program in Fall 2022 was a based on 1) PHCHE program feedback that there weren’t many opportunities to engage with other students in the major due to a cohort model, and 2) increased feelings of loneliness and disconnection many students felt after the COVID pandemic. In addition, this mentoring program aligns with the professional competencies for health education specialists, to build relationships with other professionals within and outside the profession (applies to 210 and 480 students), and to serve as a mentor (applies to 480 students).

Developing this relationship is mutually beneficial, and the experience often exceeds the expectations of students. Students build skills in networking, leadership, communication, cultural awareness, giving/receiving feedback, scheduling, and time management. These skills build self-efficacy and set up students for success during the rest of their undergraduate studies, during preceptorship and beyond, as professionals.

Evaluations are completed by both the 480 mentors and 210 mentees after each session as a form of indirect assessment. This is how students earn the associated points aligned with mentoring for their course grade, and the feedback from evaluations are complied and shared throughout the semester in both courses. Mentoring program satisfaction has been consistently high: 98% of mentors (n=103) indicated being Very Satisfied or Satisfied, and 100% of mentees (n=103) being Very Satisfied or Satisfied, with frequent recommendations from all students to continue this in the future; “I recommend doing this in the future as someone who was both the mentee and mentor; I like how it comes full circle and you can see the perspective from both sides of whatever you are on!” (a Spring 24 mentor, who was also a Fall 22 mentee).