Table 2.

Doctoral students’ discussions on mentoring through doctoral training at Makerere University College of Health Sciences

Thematic questions	Responses
What is going well?	● Peer support received from the increasing number of doctoral candidates in the various disciplines.
	● Available guidelines for doctoral supervision and mentoring.
	● Increasing numbers of supervisors and their commitment to mentor doctoral candidates.
	● PhD forum where students have opportunities to present their research projects.
What is not going well?
Physical space	● Limited physical space for doctoral students in their respective departments.
	● Limited physical space for the mentors in their respective departments.
Procurement	● Unexplained delays in the procurement processes which, in many cases, delay the students’ progress.
Registration processes	● Lengthy registration processes including delays in appointing doctoral supervisors.
Biomedical sciences	● Limited number of mentors with the skills to supervise and mentor doctoral students.
	● Limited laboratory infrastructure for biomedical research so that most students have to ship samples abroad.
Proposed solutions
Infrastructure development	● Improvement of laboratory infrastructure to support doctoral students’ projects locally.
	● Infrastructure development to create office space for doctoral students during their doctoral period.
	● Create office space for post-doctoral and faculty involved in mentoring doctoral students and junior faculty.
Procurement processes	● Improve the procurement systems to meet the needs of doctoral students and other scientists in biomedical research at Makerere University.
Registration processes	● Induction courses for doctoral students and their mentors, including a mandatory course on PhD supervision.
	● A catalogue of frequently asked questions (FAQs) for doctoral Students and mentors should be compiled and uploaded on the institutional website.
	● Regular PhD forum meetings and seminars.
Communication	● Communication skills’ training for both mentors and mentees including skills in conflict resolution.
Others	● Facilitate more seminars between mentors and doctoral students for inspiration and encouragement through the doctoral training experience.