[Mentoring in medicine: on the way to institutionalization]

The article discusses the prospects for the institutionalization of mentoring in health care, including difficulties arising along this path and tools to minimize them. The relevance of the study is justified by the increased attention in recent years to the problem of insufficient use of mentoring by the government and the scientific community and plans to legislatively consolidate the possibilities of using this mechanism in medicine. The article is based on the results of a number of field studies conducted in 2019-2020 together with the NIIOZMM DZM team, including a mass questionnaire survey of Moscow medical workers, a series of interviews with experts, a questionnaire survey of experts and a case study of best mentoring practices in all regions of Russia. In 2019, a questionnaire survey was conducted among doctors and nurses (551 respondents) and a series of in-depth structured interviews with the chief doctors of the respective organizations, representatives of medical colleges, universities and institutions of additional professional education (15 interviews). In 2020, an expert survey was conducted (using a specially designed questionnaire) of the chief doctors of medical organizations subordinate to DZM (31 experts), a series of in-depth structured interviews with the head physicians (8 interviews), as well as a case study of the best mentoring practices in all regions of the Russian Federation. The research was aimed at identifying opportunities, limitations, and tools for institutionalizing mentoring in health care. The research results show that, despite a number of limitations - a high burden on medical staff, lack of regulatory support, etc. - nevertheless, it is possible to implement and consolidate an effective mentoring system, including the tools presented in the article.