'This was great experience for me': The value of a student-student mentor program

This paper describes a mentor program between first and fourth year students that enables novice tertiary students to learn from, and experience the support of more experienced students. Analysis of student's reflections on their participation in the mentor program, revealed that the learning and confidence of both novice and experienced students was enhanced. The novice students gained a sense of induction into the course and profession and greater understanding of the future pathways, opportunities and dilemmas they may encounter in their course. The more experienced students were able to reflect on their own student experiences, and appreciate their learning, in terms of both professional expertise and personal attributes. The features of an effective mentor program are identified.