Presenting a Framework for Effective E-Mentoring Relationships in Medical Sciences: A Meta-Synthesis Method

Abstract

Background: Mentoring is used as a developmental model in many academic disciplines including clinical medicine and public health sciences. An effective relationship between the instructor or faculty member and the student can be particularly helpful in the professional growth and improvement of students, especially, in clinical disciplines. The current study aimed at presenting a framework for effective e-mentoring relationships in medical sciences to improve the quality of e-mentoring in this field. Methods: The current study presented a framework for effective e-mentoring relationships using a qualitative meta-synthesis method. The previous studies on the effective factors in mentoring relationships from 2000 to 2017 were analyzed. The research population included all indexed articles in PubMed, Sage, Taylor and Francis, Science Direct, Emerald, Springer, Scopus, and Web of Science. After 2 stages of screening based on the title and abstract of the articles, 90 articles were selected and studied. Finally, 27 articles with the highest relevance to the topic were selected as the research sample. Research data were extracted from these articles by means of open coding, and then, the data were analyzed and synthesized. Results: Twenty-eight minor components were identified for effective e-mentoring in medical sciences in higher education. The main e-mentoring framework was organized in terms of 4 major components; i e, communication medium, quantity of communication, quality of communication, and communication outcome. Conclusion: In light of the findings of previous studies on mentoring in higher education over 17 years, the current study presented a framework for policy-making, evaluation, and development of mentoring relationship between instructors and students in clinical medical sciences in higher education.