Running Head:: MENTORING ENABLING LEARNING IN PRACTICE SETTING

Mentoring And Enabling Learning in the Practice Setting

Mentoring And Enabling Learning in the Practice Setting

The current climate in general medical practice is one of change and reform.1 There is increasing recognition of the role of general practitioners in population health activities as part of the primary health care network.2,3 The Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing4 defines population health as "the organised response by society to protect and promote health, and so prevent illness, injury, disability and early mortality". The report of the General Practice Strategy Review Group5 has affirmed the important role of general practice in population health and the need for more collaboration and integration across the primary health sector to guide GPs in public health activities.

First appearing in 1992, and supported by the subsequent emergence of state and national peak bodies, Divisions of General Practice provide a focus for strengthening the vitality of local medical practice. Their increasing involvement in population health activities calls for the development of population health skills among divisional staff and GP members. University departments of public or population health may have a role in providing this education.

Mentoring, in the present context, has been understood to be a process of knowledge and skill exchange between peers in a working environment, one with a learning need and another who is able to meet that need. This perspective stresses collegiality between the learner and the mentor, and acknowledges that the learner brings a store of important knowledge and skills to the relationship.

Kolb has developed a useful model of adult learning, which recognises that workers bring valid experiences to a learning situation.6 They can then reflect upon these experiences and develop sound theories which can be tested in new situations through problem-solving activities. This model envisages learning as an iterative process, in which new experiences are generated by the problem-solving activities, and so the spiral of learning continues.

Mentoring is a well recognised strategy, accessed by health care professionals for education and professional development.7,8 The process of mentoring has been used to facilitate students and novice practitioners towards more advanced levels of clinical expertise.9 Mentoring has also assisted experienced professionals to develop specific knowledge and skills.10

Conceptually, mentoring often relates to a partnership of mutual respect that promotes explicit learning. There are a multiplicity of designs, roles, contexts and functions of mentoring agreements. Mentoring relationships can variously focus on task development, information sharing, education, social support or career guidance. They often provide the forum and skills for participants to reflect on and enhance their intellectual and emotional resources.8

Mentoring has been widely used to develop specific aspects of practice, such as research capacity and productivity.9,10,11 Predoctoral nurses reported increased confidence in the research process, increased productivity, work organisation and innovative communication following a structured mentoring relationship.12 An external mentoring project promoted the research growth of faculty members through exposure to highly productive, discipline-specific academics from other universities.11 Mentoring has also been shown to enhance retention and recruitment of skilled ...