PeerConnect

PeerConnect is a peer mentorship program, founded by a team of MBBS students and graduates. The program addresses numerous shortcomings of the medical education system, particularly the culture of independent, unsupported learning among medical students and the lack of career counselling. We tackle these issues in two ways: 1) We provide an opportunity for students to access mentorship services, both as a mentor and mentee. We manage a database of registered mentors and mentees, while our team searches for the best ‘match’. Once our team makes an appropriate match, the mentor and mentee are left alone to help each other, without any intervention from the team. 2) We maintain a blog under constant development that provides relevant information on different pathways to residency, different career prospects after MBBS within and outside healthcare, unique student and doctor experiences and ways to maximize on the time and resources available during MBBS. PeerConnect is an effort to develop a ‘mentorship culture’ that provides a sense of direction to mentees and also fosters a judgement-free, healthy academic relationships within the student body. We aim to provide an experience where students can not only learn from the journey of their peers, but also seek their guidance and work with them to overcome the obstacles they encounter on their career pathway. We function as an independent, professional organization that encourages development of leadership skills among our team members. We collectively discuss ideas and work on pushing our own boundaries to make an impact on the MBBS student community at large. Along with this, we create multiple volunteering opportunities, so that students get the opportunity to work with a professional team and gain valuable experience.