Mentor or Tormentor? A Commentary on the Fractured Role of Mentoring in Paramedicine

Abstract

The relatively quick evolution of paramedicine and the inevitable ‘growing pains’ associated with an evolving profession has seen mentoring and the role of the mentor become clouded in confusion, ineffective education and a lack of specific research. Paramedicine's recent development as a registered profession has also seen mentoring explicitly outlined as being a capability expected of all registered paramedics. However, the paramedic-mentoring model in Australia seems to have been mostly left up to the individual paramedic to develop in isolation from adequate training and mentoring themselves. If paramedicine is to continue its evolution as a legitimate healthcare profession, the quality of clinical mentoring must be acknowledged as a significant factor by higher education institutions, and the public and private services who employ paramedics, and nurtured accordingly.