MPH Peer Mentoring Programme Celebrates Second Year

The Master of Public Health (MPH) Peer Mentoring Programme celebrated its second cohort of peer mentors at an informal Certificate Ceremony held in May 2019. The MPH peer mentor programme started in 2018, in response to a need identified for new MPH students to be supported and mentored for the first three months, as they start their MPH journey at the University of Cape Town.

Arriving in a new city or a new country as is the case for many of the new MPH students, can be very daunting. Then to navigate a complex university administration system, finding accommodation, making friends and working out which courses to sign up for, may be overwhelming. Having an experienced student assigned to welcome and support you, and point you to the places and resources that you need to access, can make a potentially harrowing experience manageable  -and this is what the MPH peer mentor programme aims to do.

The MPH Peer mentoring programme is student-led and staff-supported. Between 15 to 20 mentors take responsibility for mentoring two to three students each during the first three months of their MPH journey.  

Mentors are paired with new students and the mentor-mentee pairs meet at regular intervals, during which the mentors provide advice and support on needs as identified by the mentees.

The MPH programme is a long-standing flagship programme in the Department of Public Health and Family Medicine and attracts students from a wide range of South African and international settings, and a significant proportion of students come from countries in Africa and South African locations outside of Cape Town.  It is our international students that find the MPH programme most valuable, as they have to navigate a foreign country, city and institution.

At the end of the formal mentoring period, which ends at the first half of semester one, mentors and mentees often have formed firm friendships, and as stated by some of the mentor-mentee pairs, “ we are now friends for life”.

Below are some of the mentors receiving a certificate of appreciation from the Head of the School of Public Health and Family Medicine and of the MPH Programme, Professor Landon Myer.