Near-peer mentorship for newly qualified doctors; what are the benefits, and what methods can be used to overcome the pitfalls?

This research suggests that near-peer mentorship offers benefits for the mentee, mentor and organisation, if care is taken to mitigate the potential pitfalls. The main benefits versus traditional senior faculty mentorship derive from the concept of social and cognitive congruence, whereby a more closely relatable tutor is better able to tailor learning in terms understood by the tutee. Practical recommendations to optimise near-pear mentorship include mentorship pyramids, matching of pairings within the same clinical sites, and a hybrid matching approach with the option for mentee-led selection.