Professional Identity Formation: A Role for Patients as Mentors.

Purpose: Medical education should foster professional identity formation, but there is much to be learned about how to support learners in developing their professional identity. This study examined the role that patients can play in supporting professional identity development during the University of British Columbia Interprofessional Health Mentors Program (HMP), a longitudinal preclinical elective in which patients, or their caregivers, act as mentors and educate students about their lived experience of a chronic condition or disability.

Method: The authors interviewed 18 medical residents in 2016, 3 to 4 years after they completed the HMP.