Background: Tzu Chi University in Taiwan offers a unique mentoring program. This program differs from others as it comprises triple mentorship, namely, faculty mentors, Tzu Cheng/Yi De (TC/YD; senior volunteers), and school counselors. This study aimed to survey the role functions of the mentors from the perspective of medical students. Methods: The Role Functions of the Mentoring Program Scale (RFMPS) was developed on the basis of literature reviews and focus groups and it underwent exploratory factor analysis for internal consistency and reliability. RFMPS comprises four role functions, namely, mental, educational, career, and humanistic/moral guidance counseling. The survey was distributed to 171 medical students via an online network with two-month intervals and was analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance. Results: The overall response rate was 64% (116/171). The mean scores of the four role functions in descending order belonged to faculty mentors, TC/YD, and school counselors. For humanistic/moral guidance, students had an equal preference for the faculty mentors and TC/YD over school counselors. As for educational, career, and mental guidance counseling, students preferred faculty mentors over TC/YD and school counselors. Faculty mentors provided students with the required guidance counseling for all the four role functions, especially educational guidance; TC/YD in particular offered prominent humanistic/moral guidance and career counseling; school counselors were less preferred but guided students in need. Conclusions: Medical students value different role functions provided by faculty mentors, TC/YD, and school counselors. A diversified focus could be provided by the faculty mentors, particularly in educational, career, mental, and humanistic/moral counseling; TC/YD specialized in humanistic/moral guidance; and the school counselors carried out their role function only when needed. Humanistic/moral guidance is equally preferred to other types of guidance, which can be equally valuable in future mentoring programs.

We report a case of a 73-year-old man with minimally invasive lung adenocarcinoma, post-resection, evaluated with ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT for suspected disease progression. Imaging showed increased FDG uptake in the right lower lung mass and systemic lymphadenopathy (mediastinal, supraclavicular, axillary, paraaortic, and iliac regions). The appearance of a stable lymph node and a clinical history of IgG4 lymphadenopathy suggested an inflammatory process, although malignancy in the lung mass and mediastinal nodes could not be excluded. Lobectomy confirmed the presence of lung adenocarcinoma, while radical lymph node dissection identified IgG4-related lymphadenopathy without metastasis. This case underscores the need for considering differential diagnosis of PET-positive lymphadenopathy, especially in patients with comorbid conditions that mimic or coexist with malignancy.