Mentoring schemes for psychiatrists in the North East: an evaluation and exploration

The transition from specialist registrar to consultant can be difficult as there are many new challenging tasks associated with a consultant position . The developmental and emotional challenges are so great that it may take some time before the newly appointed consultant feels confident with their new responsibilities and roles. Mentoring schemes are seen as one way of helping newly qualified consultants cope with this transition and in 2006 such a scheme was implemented in the North East for newly appointed consultant psychiatrists. A shadowing project, linked to the mentoring scheme, also ran during this time.

We have been funded by Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Trust, NIHME and the Post Graduate Institute for Medicine and Dentistry to design and run an evaluation of this mentoring and shadowing project. The study aims to:

  • develop an understanding of how psychiatrists perceive and evaluate their experiences (with or without shadowing) of the mentoring scheme for psychiatrists in the North East

  • explore the ways in which the mentoring processes experienced on the schemes relate to models of mentoring taught on the local training course attended by mentors.

In this way we will evaluate the mentoring and shadowing schemes and add to the current body of knowledge surrounding mentoring whilst also gaining insight into the development of professional knowledge and practice and how it becomes translated and embedded within practice..

Dr Alison Steven is the Principle Investigator for this study and Dr Jane Stewart is co-applicant and co-researcher. Alison and has been previously involved in mentoring research undertaken by the ‘Doctors’ Forum’, established under the Department of Health’s Improving Working Lives initiative. Jane is Lecturer in Clinical Education here in the School of Medical Education Development.

This project was completed in April 2008 and the final report is now available to download.


Main contact

Dr Alison Steven, Principle Investigator, medev@ncl.ac.uk.

Further information from the work undertaken by the Doctors Forum:

Mentoring for doctors, a look at the literature

Mentoring for doctors, enhancing the benefit

Mentoring for doctors, talking about the experience