Medical mentorship means a student works with a mentor who has already walked the path into medicine. The mentor guides the thinking, not just the content. This page sets out what a medical mentorship program involves, how it differs from tutoring, and which grades each format suits. You can also compare our pre-med programs for Grades 5-12 on the programmes hub.
Key takeaways
- A medical mentorship program pairs a student with a mentor across a run of sessions, not a single class.
- The work is case-based. Students reason from symptoms towards a diagnosis.
- Mentorship differs from tutoring. Tutoring covers a syllabus. Mentorship builds judgement and a project.
- The Junior Doctor Fellowship is for Grades 5-8. It costs $499 per cohort across 3 weekends, live online.
- The Future Doctor Fellowship is for Grades 8-12. It costs $850 early bird across an 8-week live online cohort.
- Both cohorts hold 15-20 students.
- Students finish with a certificate, a completed project, and a letter of participation.
Jump to a section
- What a medical mentorship program actually is
- How mentorship differs from tutoring or advising
- What a typical mentorship session looks like
- Who a medical mentorship program is for
- What students walk away with
- FAQ
What a medical mentorship program actually is
A medical mentorship program is a fixed group of students working with a mentor over a set number of live sessions. The mentor is someone already inside the pathway, in our case a Harvard student mentor.
The subject matter is clinical. Students read patient cases, notice details, ask questions, and defend a view. Medical vocabulary is learned in the context of a case rather than from a list.
The group stays the same across the programme. Our cohorts hold 15-20 students, so every student speaks in every session.
Two formats sit under this description at our end. The Junior Doctor Fellowship runs across 3 weekends. The Future Doctor Fellowship runs as an 8-week live online cohort.
How mentorship differs from tutoring or advising
The three words get used interchangeably. They describe different work.
| What it covers | What a student ends with | |
|---|---|---|
| Tutoring | A school syllabus or an exam paper | Better marks on that syllabus |
| Advising | Choices about subjects, universities and timelines | A plan or a shortlist |
| Medical mentorship | Clinical reasoning, a project, and mentor feedback | A finished project, a certificate and a letter |
Tutoring is bounded by a curriculum. A tutor answers questions that already have a fixed answer.
Advising is bounded by a decision. An adviser helps a family choose between options.
Mentorship covers the parts with no fixed answer. A mentor watches how a student thinks through a case and gives feedback on the reasoning itself. Our post on how a pre-med program differs from a summer science camp sets out a related distinction on format.
What a typical mentorship session looks like
Sessions run 90 minutes and follow the same rhythm each time. The structure below is the one documented on our programme pages.
In the Junior Doctor Fellowship, a session runs in five blocks.
- 1.Cold open. The patient is presented first, with no preamble. Students say what they notice.
- 2.The case drop. The mystery is read out and the clues are handed over.
- 3.Activity time. A roleplay, debate, outbreak mapping exercise or diagnosis game. Every student takes part.
- 4.Casebook and peer review. Students write their findings in their personal Casebook, then defend their diagnosis to peers.
- 5.Facilitator Q&A and teaser. The mentor deconstructs the case, gives feedback, and previews the next mystery.
Each of the six sessions carries its own case. Session 6 is a Medical Conference where students present their capstone.
In the Future Doctor Fellowship, the 8 weeks move from case work to a project. Week 2 is team diagnosis of real medical mysteries using patient symptoms and test results. Week 4 is competitive medical ethics debates on cases with no clean answer. Week 5 covers 10+ medical career paths. Week 6 is project selection, where a student picks one of four project tracks and plans the deliverable with their mentor. Week 7 is build time with mentor and peer feedback. Week 8 is Demo Day, where each Fellow presents the project in 3 to 5 minutes and answers questions from mentors and peers.
Parents receive a written report after every session in both programmes.
Who a medical mentorship program is for
Grade determines the programme. Grade 8 sits in the overlap and can go either way.
Younger students, Grades 5-8
The Junior Doctor Fellowship is built for Grades 5-8. The format is 3 weekends, live online, and the fee is $499 per cohort. Cohorts hold 15-20 students and mix grades 5 to 8 together.
It suits younger students testing whether medicine is genuinely for them. The material is real cases taught at their level rather than exam preparation. Our post on medical camps for middle schoolers covers readiness signs at this age.
Older students, Grades 8-12
The Future Doctor Fellowship is built for Grades 8-12. The format is an 8-week live online cohort and the fee is $850 early bird. Cohorts hold 15-20 students.
It suits students close enough to applications that they need a finished project, clinical reasoning practice, and a mentor who has sat the admissions process.
What students walk away with
The outputs are documented on each programme page.
Future Doctor Fellowship students who complete all 8 sessions and the capstone receive a signed certificate naming their project title. They also receive a letter of participation detailing the project and their involvement, and they keep the project itself as a deliverable. Session recordings stay available afterwards.
Junior Doctor Fellowship students build a personal Casebook session by session. They present a 3 to 5 minute scientific showcase in Session 6, complete a final written reflection, and receive a qualitative assessment and a Certificate of Completion.
In both programmes, the mentor is willing to speak to a student's progress.
FAQ
What is a medical mentorship program?
It is a live programme where a fixed group of students works with a medical mentor across a set number of sessions. The work is case-based rather than syllabus-based. Students reason through patient cases, build a project, and receive feedback on their thinking. Our two formats are the Junior Doctor Fellowship for Grades 5-8 and the Future Doctor Fellowship for Grades 8-12.
How is medical mentorship different from tutoring?
Tutoring is tied to a school syllabus or an exam and measures success in marks. Medical mentorship covers clinical reasoning, a project and mentor feedback. A tutor answers questions with fixed answers. A mentor watches how a student reaches a conclusion and corrects the reasoning. The end products differ too, since mentorship finishes with a certificate, a project and a letter of participation.
What grades can join a medical mentorship program?
Grades 5 to 12. The Junior Doctor Fellowship takes Grades 5-8 and runs across 3 weekends, live online, at $499 per cohort. The Future Doctor Fellowship takes Grades 8-12 and runs as an 8-week live online cohort at $850 early bird. Grade 8 students are eligible for either, and the right choice depends on how close they are to applications.
How much does a medical mentorship program cost?
Our figures are $499 per cohort for the Junior Doctor Fellowship and $850 early bird for the Future Doctor Fellowship. Early bird is a timing-based rate, so the applicable price depends on when a family applies. Our cost breakdown post lists what sits inside each fee.