Exploration of Osteopathic Medical Students’ Reflections on Humanism in a Values-Centered Mentoring Program

Abstract Purpose Mentoring is common practice in professional development of future physicians and can contribute to developing values related to humanism in medicine. This study explores how diverse preclinical osteopathic medical students reflect on experiences in a mentoring program that focuses on humanism in medicine, related to values, settings, and contributors to their learning experiences. Method The participants were first- and second-year medical students in one institution’s mentoring program from 2015–2023. The authors used a combination of inductive and deductive analysis to identify themes and subthemes in written reflections on humanistic values in response to learning experiences across 167 student-years. Purposeful sampling ensured inclusion of diverse participants. Saturation was achieved. Results Preclinical osteopathic medical students reflected on all components of an established framework for humanism in medicine (integrity, excellence, collaboration, compassion, altruism, respect, resilience, empathy, service), as well as additional themes about assumptions/bias and holistic patient care. Participants’ reflections on humanistic values responded to learning experiences in both clinical and non-clinical settings across all themes. Diverse individuals (e.g. assigned mentors, other healthcare professionals, peer trainees, and patients and their families) inspired osteopathic preclinical students to reflect on humanistic patient care. Thematic nuances related to certain contributors and settings were identified. Conclusions Learning experiences that involve engagement with diverse individuals in a range of clinical and non-clinical settings is a powerful way to prompt reflection on values related to humanistic patient care. This study expands our understanding of what humanistic patient care means to preclinical osteopathic medical students.