Abstract: Objective To understand the current implementation status of the mentoring model for medical graduate students at a certain university, identify its key characteristics and existing problems, and provide empirical evidence for optimizing the mentoring model and improving the quality of training. Methods In July 2023, a questionnaire survey was conducted on all 2023 graduating students (referred to as graduates) at an affiliated hospital of a university in Hunan Province using purposive sampling. The content focused on the fulfillment of the seven responsibilities of mentors in promoting moral education and their professional ethics and conduct. The K-means clustering algorithm was used to classify the mentors, and the chi-square test was employed to compare the differences in the dimensions of professional ethics and conduct among different categories. Results A total of 627 valid questionnaires were recovered (360 for professional degree and 267 for academic degree). The graduates′ satisfaction with the fulfillment of all responsibilities of mentors in promoting moral education was all > 90.0%; the overall recognition of professional ethics and conduct was 96.3% (604/627). Based on the three-dimensional evaluation of ″humanistic care and academic support, academic ethics and research integrity, and integrity and respect for personality″, K-means clustering was used to divide the mentors into three groups: benchmark type, development type, and improvement type. Through the chi-square test, the differences in the frequency of scores in each dimension among the three groups were statistically significant (all P < 0.001). In terms of classified training, 86.5% (231/267) of academic degree graduates highly recognized academic training, while 93.6% (337/360) of professional degree graduates highly agreed with clinical practice guidance. In addition, 72.7% (456/627) of graduates suggested that ″professional ethics evaluation″ be the primary standard for mentor selection and assessment. Conclusions The mentoring model is generally recognized in terms of responsibility fulfillment and classified training, but there are cluster differences in professional ethics performance, and most graduates advocate strengthening the weight of professional ethics evaluation in mentor management. The research results provide empirical evidence for universities to build differentiated assessment systems based on the characteristics of mentor clusters and suggest the need to further pay attention to the improvement of the regular management and supervision mechanism of professional ethics.

Key words: Education, medical, graduate, Mentoring guidance model, Empirical evaluation