Bennett Sara, Paina Ligia, Ssengooba Freddie, Waswa Douglas, M'Imunya James M
Department of International Health ,Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA, .
Educ Health (Abingdon). 2013 Sep-Dec;26(3):183-7. doi: 10.4103/1357-6283.126001.
Mentorship is a critical element of capacity-building for health research as it can support career counseling, promote interest in health research and build professional networks. Few studies of mentorship have taken place in low- and middle-income countries. This paper explores the mentorship dimension of the Fogarty International Center's (FIC) support to research training in Kenya and Uganda.
This exploratory study documents the nature of mentoring that occurred within FIC programs, considers the outcomes of mentoring, and the strengths and weaknesses of FIC trainee mentorship during and after training. Two case studies were conducted, at the University of Nairobi in Kenya and Makerere University in Uganda. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with former trainees, principal investigators and institutional leaders, exploring their perceptions of mentoring and its effects.
Mentoring aspects of FIC programs were highly valued. Respondents felt that following formal training in the US there was much still to learn about conducting research, and mentoring relationships provided support in applying for and implementing research grants. Mentoring arrangements were initially with US collaborators, but over time relationships with senior African colleagues became critical, particularly in terms of navigating university administrative systems. Mentees were typically highly motivated to pass their skills on to others, and became eager mentors later in their careers. A minority of respondents raised concerns about directive approaches to mentorship that reflect more hierarchical rather than egalitarian approaches.
Mentorship during and after FIC research training programs, while largely informal in nature, appears to have very positive impacts upon career development and inclination to remain in health research. Local African mentors often play a critical mentorship role, and their contributions should be better recognized.
导师指导是健康研究能力建设的关键要素，因为它可以提供职业咨询、激发对健康研究的兴趣并建立专业网络。在低收入和中等收入国家，很少有关于导师指导的研究。本文探讨了福格蒂国际中心（FIC）对肯尼亚和乌干达研究培训支持中的导师指导层面。
这项探索性研究记录了FIC项目中发生的导师指导的性质，考虑了导师指导的成果以及培训期间和培训后FIC学员导师指导的优缺点。在肯尼亚的内罗毕大学和乌干达的马凯雷雷大学进行了两个案例研究。对以前的学员、主要研究人员和机构负责人进行了半结构化访谈，探讨他们对导师指导及其效果的看法。
FIC项目的导师指导方面受到高度重视。受访者认为，在美国接受正式培训后，在开展研究方面仍有很多要学习的，而导师指导关系为申请和实施研究资助提供了支持。导师指导安排最初是与美国合作者进行的，但随着时间的推移，与非洲资深同事的关系变得至关重要，特别是在应对大学行政系统方面。学员通常有很高的积极性将自己的技能传授给他人，并在职业生涯后期成为热心的导师。少数受访者对反映更多等级制而非平等主义方法的指导性导师指导方法表示担忧。
FIC研究培训项目期间及之后的导师指导，虽然本质上大多是非正式的，但似乎对职业发展和留在健康研究领域的意愿有非常积极的影响。当地非洲导师往往发挥着关键的导师指导作用，他们的贡献应得到更好的认可。
