In conclusion , the mentorship programme has had a successful first year and we look forward to developing it further . It has shown itself to be a worthwhile and viable project and has achieved some success with very few resources .
There are benefits for both mentors and mentees and we look forward to extending the programme beyond levels 5 and 7 to levels 4 and 6 on the occupational therapy programmes and to attract more mentors from within the profession , as well as across healthcare professions .
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alumni ) and seeking opportunities to gain new skills in mentorship in preparation for working with students in the future .
Past non-occupational therapy graduates of the School of Health have also been welcomed and include psychology , public health and biomedical sciences . We aim , where possible , to match up student and mentor demographics , such as profession , gender and ethnicity , or any demographics the students and mentors highlight as important , as there is an emphasis in supporting students to have role models and build their success on the programmes , as well as develop their identity as occupational therapists . Now the occupational therapy mentorship programme is well established the work is being rolled out across the School of Health subject areas and the university , with course leads using our structure and documentation within and beyond health , including events and tourism .
Feedback from mentors and mentees , who have engaged well , has been very positive ; nine have completed the survey ( five mentors and four students ) and described the experience using the following words and phrases : comfortable and welcoming ; nice to hear experiences ; I feel honoured ; reassuring ; feel blessed to have a mentor I can connect with ; and sharing knowledge and expertise .
Suggestions for how the programme can be improved include advertising it further , however this is restricted due to number of mentors and a limitation related to technical problems . Anecdotally reported challenges related mainly to time .
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Words DR ANGELA MURPHY , Senior Lecturer BSc and MSc Occupational Therapy , Research Ethics Coordinator , Freedom to Speak up Guardian , School of Health , Leeds Beckett University . If you have any questions or queries please contact a . m . murphy @ leedsbeckett . ac . uk
44 OTnews February 2024