Building Community-Engaged Learning Through Interprofessional Mentorship

Abstract

Mentoring is an essential concept for facilitating learning across many disciplines to support the professional development of students into the workforce. Typically, these mentorships are initiated between individuals in a similar field or expertise for the purpose of meeting learning objectives driven by profession-specific standards. This paper describes the importance of expanding traditional mentorship opportunities to encompass interdisciplinary mentoring relationships which can foster interprofessional learning, promote increased diverse experiences in underrepresented communities, and create pathways for community-engagement between academic institutions and partnering organizations to improve client services. This study included an innovative approach which used evidenced-based resources to support mentors in their willingness to mentor students outside of their own profession. The findings of this program acknowledge that with intentional educational resources framed within interprofessional learning, mentors of diverse backgrounds can grow in their perception of confidence and competence leading to improved understanding of the importance of communication strategies and the various ways mentors and mentees can communicate with one another. In addition, mentors can develop greater confidence of their ability to mentor and serve as a role model by nurturing trust in the relationship which can lead to positive self-efficacy of the student in the community-engaged partnership.