A mentor is different from a preceptor or clinical supervisor in that mentorship “is less instructional, focuses less on supervision and assessment of performance and more on positively influencing through role modeling and guidance”. (The Canadian Nurses Association Achieving Excellence in Professional Practice – a Guide to Preceptorship)
The mentorship model is a mentor-led clinical experience that provides a focused introduction to the Canadian workplace environment. It allows the Internationally Educated Physiotherapist (IEPT), through both observation and participation, to gain knowledge of and exposure to the role and scope of practice of a physiotherapist, and the continuum of care within the Alberta health system.
The mentor model refers specifically to the clinical practice experience that will be offered to the Bridging Certificate program students integrated into two courses in the program. This is a new model of clinical experience for therapists in Alberta, one which involves significantly fewer hours per week but over a longer period of time, and ongoing feedback rather than formal evaluation, (i.e. no Assessment of Clinical Experience or ACP type tool).