Presented By: Lillian Sims, University of Kentucky College of Medicine
Co-Authors: Noor Ali, University of Kentucky College of Medicine
William Denton, University of Kentucky College of Medicine
Shelby McCubbin, University of Kentucky College of Medicine
Raven Piercey, University of Kentucky College of Medicine

Purpose
As USMLE Step 1 and many medical school curricula have transitioned to pass/fail systems, unintended consequences may include a need for innovative ways to recognize student strengths and accomplishments, which traditional assessments (e.g., grades; class rank) may be ill-suited to capture. Increasingly, we have seen students turn to their near-peers for mentorship - but with uneven results. Careful development and support are needed for expanded peer mentorship efforts.

Methods
In light of these challenges, we built the MedMentor program to provide 1-1 near-peer mentorship for our medical school's first year cohort. The program began as a pilot during the 2023-2024 academic year, with 22 second-year medical students each selected to mentor a small group of 6-8 first-year medical students (totaling 137 mentees). Goals of the program include building confidence and belonging among members of both cohorts and facilitating early interest in academic careers for underrepresented students in particular.

Results
While program leaders see the benefits of organic relationships with skilled peer mentors, facilitating a culture which enables those connections is complex, as incoming students are often accustomed to a competitive pre-medical environment. Our findings indicate that first-year students do take advantage of low-stakes peer mentor connections facilitated through a formal initiative. MedMentors collectively completed 22 small-group encounters per month during the academic year, and have also completed over 60 voluntary meetings with individual first-year mentees. Mentor students' interest in academic and teaching careers has also increased.

Conclusion
We anticipate that the MedMentors initiative could be adopted elsewhere to increase interest in mentoring careers as well as support for incoming students. Ultimately, well-evaluated peer mentorship programs have potential to diversify academic medicine by providing clear pathways through which preclinical students can begin to envision themselves as mentors and set themselves apart for the next stage of training.