ABSTRACT
The trainer takes on multiple roles during the training year. Results from surveys carried out in the late 1980s suggest that vocational dental practitioners (VDPs) perceive the trainer to have five key roles. These are: mentor, counsellor, employer, friend, and teacher. As VDPs climb the ladder of their professional experience, the dominant teaching style shifts from the passive to the interactive and finally to the self-directed. This gradual upward shift is facilitated by the people and processes shown on the right of the ladder; the role of the trainer is clearly defined in this model. The Standing Committee on Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education, in its report Supporting doctors and dentists at work: an enquiry into mentoring described mentoring. Studies involving mentoring relationships have identified highly valued aspects of the relationship. A facet of mentoring is sometimes described as 'peer mentoring'.
