Peer-to-peer mentorship emerges from mandatory research coursework: A social network case study

Research training thrives when pairing coursework with peer-to-peer mentorship. To understand how emerging collaborations promote research productivity of medical students, this study investigates the development of peer-to-peer advice-seeking behaviors and identify social mechanism that fosters collaborations. Cross-sectional surveys on advice-seeking behaviors were collected from 95 medical students awarded research presentation or publication grants from 2016 to 2023. Interrupted time series analysis (ITS) assessed the impact of research coursework, and SNA visualized the advice-seeking patterns and community structure. Path analysis and subgroup analysis identified influential factors that led to grant awarding. ITS showed an increase in grant awarding after the coursework implementation. SNA revealed a shift toward decentralized peer-to-peer advice-seeking behaviors, as group formation mediated grant awarding by 20.41%. Students preferentially seek advice from those at similar educational stages, regardless of gender and research interest. Subgroup analysis revealed advice-seeking differences across genders, educational stages, cohorts, and publication statuses. The network perspective highlights that group formation is a mediator of research productivity. Educators should consider a growing trend towards peer-to-peer mentorship and the influence of institutional policies on student behaviors. Understanding advice-seeking patterns can inform effective strategies to support and enhance undergraduate research engagement.