The Sibs Program: A Structured Peer-Mentorship Program to Reduce Burnout for First-Year Medical Students

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. First-year medical students are at risk for burnout despite resources available to help them manage stress. In 2015, a structured peer-mentorship program was created at our institution for incoming medical students (M1s) by second-year medical students (M2s) with a goal of reducing risk factors for burnout; a secondary goal was to improve the mentoring skills of M2s. Over the course of the year, we surveyed M1s about their anxiety, prioritization skills, and work-life balance; M2s from the previous year’s unstructured peer-mentorship program served as a control group. 164 M1s and 164 M2s participated in this program. Among M1s, a structured peer-mentorship program significantly reduced anxiety levels (p=<0.01), improved prioritization skills (p=<0.01), and facilitated greater awareness of the importance of striving to maintain work-life balance (p=<0.01). M2s felt neutral-to-agreeable in their ability to provide guidance, refer students for help, and remain invested in their mentees. A structured peer-mentorship program, therefore, may reduce anxiety, improve prioritization skills, and emphasize the importance of work-life balance among M1s, elements that have been associated with reduced rates of burnout. Furthermore, this program can augment the professional development of M2s by motivating them to maintain longitudinal mentoring relationships with underclassmen.