Abstract
Purpose: Student-faculty interactions significantly impact academic experiences and mental health in health professions education. Understanding how these interactions are defined, their contexts, and impact on mental health is essential for developing educational interventions and strategies to enhance student-faculty interactions and support student mental health. This scoping review aims to explore: (1) how student-faculty interactions are defined within health professions education, (2) the contexts of these interactions, (3) their impact on students' mental health, and (4) the programs or interventions related to student-faculty interactions offered by universities to support student mental health.
Methods: A search was conducted across databases including EBSCO, PubMed, CINAHL, ERIC, ProQuest, and Scopus. The review followed the Arksey and O'Malley framework’s five stages: identifying the research question, identifying relevant studies, study selection, charting the data, and collating, summarizing, and reporting the results. Frequency and qualitative analyses were performed to synthesize the data.
Results: The review identified four key themes from 21 studies: (1) characteristics of student-faculty interactions, highlighting the role of mentorship, communication, and feedback; (2) contexts of faculty engagement, including clinical, didactic, and online learning environments; (3) influence on mental health, where supportive interactions were linked to reduced stress and burnout, while negative interactions contributed to anxiety and disengagement; and (4) interventions supporting positive interactions, emphasizing structured mentorship programs and faculty training. The review also identified gaps in validated measurement tools and the application of theoretical frameworks to understand these interactions.
Conclusion: Findings underscore the importance of student-faculty interactions in promoting positive learning environments and supporting student mental health. While mentorship and structured faculty training may enhance student experiences, further research is needed to evaluate their effectiveness through longitudinal studies. Addressing gaps in validated assessment tools and theoretical models can improve our understanding of student-faculty interactions and inform future faculty development initiatives in health professions education.
Recommended Citation
Bulan, Paolo Miguel P.; Cabatan, Maria Concepcion C.; and Espiritu, Elena Wong
(2025)
"A Scoping Review of Student-Faculty Interactions and Their Impact on Health Professions Students' Mental Health,"
Health Professions Education: Vol. 11:
Iss.
2, Article 14.
DOI: 10.55890/2452-3011.1341
Available at:
https://hpe.researchcommons.org/journal/vol11/iss2/14
