Mentoring for Admission and Retention of Black Socio-Ethnic Minorities in Medicine: A Scoping Review

Purpose Despite numerous mentoring strategies to promote academic success and eligibility in medicine, Black students remain disproportionately underrepresented in medicine. Therefore, we conducted a scoping review to identify the mentoring practices available to Black pre-medical students, medical students and medical residents, specifically the mentoring strategies used, their application, and their evaluation. Method Between May 2023 and October 2023, the authors conducted a literature review. Studies that described a mentoring strategy applied among Black learners were eligible for inclusion, and all years of publication were included. Two reviewers screened each article using the Covidence tool, and conflicts were resolved by a third author. All reviewers extracted the data to summarize the various mentoring practices. Results After screening 6292 articles, 42 articles met the criteria for full review. Of these, 14 studies were included in the study. Mentoring practices for Black students included peer mentoring, dyad mentoring, and group mentoring. Mentoring was typically offered through discussion groups, educational internships, and didactic activities. Evaluation of mentoring programs took into account (1) pass rates on medical exams (eg, MCAT, Casper), (2) receipt of an invitation to a medical school admissions interview, (3) successful match to a competitive residency program, and (4) a mentee's report of the overall experience and effectiveness of the program. Conclusion This review is the first, to our knowledge, to focus on mentoring strategies implemented among Black learners in medicine. The results will inform mentoring strategies adapted for Black learners and will therefore address the underrepresentation of Black students in medicine.