A Proposed Model for an Optimal Mentoring Environment for Medical Residents: A Literature Review (original) (raw)

Residents’ Experiences with Mentorship in Academic Medicine

Academic Psychiatry, 2018

Objective Although mentorship is essential for the professional development of physicians, the literature on trainees' mentorship experiences and perceptions of effective mentoring is more limited. This descriptive study examines residents' experiences of mentoring and their perceptions about the impact of mentorship on professional development, comparing experiences in mentoring that is assigned versus self-initiated. Methods A web-based self-administered cross-sectional survey of all senior residents (≥PGY-3) at a major urban academic medical center was conducted from March 27 to May 31, 2015. Results Of the 327 eligible senior residents, 204 (62%) responded and completed the survey. Most residents (82%) reported multiple mentors and 65% reported that their primary mentorship relationship was self-initiated. Residents who self-initiated their primary mentorship were significantly more likely to strongly/somewhat agree that their mentor had a positive impact on publications and scholarly projects (88 vs 44%, p = 0.0063) as well as research (88 vs 55%, p = 0.0001) compared to residents with assigned mentorship, with no significant differences measured by gender, race, or ethnicity. Forty-four percent of residents indicated they had unmet needs for mentoring in at least one of several professional areas. Conclusions Most residents perceive mentoring relationships as important to many aspects of their career development. Still 44% of residents reported unmet needs for mentoring in one or more areas, a result that needs further exploration. Since the majority of residents' primary mentoring relationships were self-initiated rather than assigned, and these were seen as more important for research and publications, programs should consider how to support the connection between residents and potential mentors.

Mentoring in the clinical setting: Process, issues and challenges

International e-Journal of Science, Medicine & Education

Mentoring in academic medicine requires the trained mentor to commit time, purpose and dedication for the personal and professional development of three categories of protégés or mentees i.e. medical students, the clinician-trainee and the clinical-educator. Conventionally, assigned mentors monitor the progress of the first two categories of personnel as their career pathway is clearly defined. On the other hand the clinician-educator in academic medicine could be a scientist or a career clinician expected to contribute to medical education activities and research. The clinicianeducator has grown in complexity as he multitasks in providing clinical care, assists in delivering the medical curriculum and is expected to do research and publish. Although there is dearth of research in mentoring the clinician-educator, it is clear that mentored clinicaleducators are more productive by way of scientific publications. Trained mentors are expected to identify the needs of the mentee with regards to the level of his career development and his aptitude to move up the academic ladder, successfully nurturing the maturation process. Processes of mentoring in the clinical setting, attributes of the successful mentor and facilitating the mentee in overcoming challenges in academic medicine are discussed.

Characteristics of mentoring relationships formed by medical students and faculty

Medical Education Online, 2012

Little is known about the characteristics of mentoring relationships formed between faculty and medical students. Individual mentoring relationships of clinical medical students at Munich Medical School were characterized quantitatively and qualitatively. Methods: All students signing up for the mentoring program responded to a questionnaire on their expectations (n0534). Mentees were asked to give feedback after each of their one-on-one meetings (n 0203). A detailed analysis of the overall mentoring process and its characteristics was performed. For qualitative text analysis, free-text items were analyzed and categorized by two investigators. Quantitative analysis was performed using descriptive statistics and Wilcoxon-test to assess differences in grades between students with and without mentors. Results: High-performing students were significantly more likely to participate in the mentoring program (p B0.001). Topics primarily discussed include the mentee's personal goals (65.5%), career planning (59.6%), and experiences abroad (57.6%). Mentees mostly perceived their mentors as counselors (88.9%), providers of ideas (85.0%), and role models (73.3%). Mentees emphasized the positive impact of the mentoring relationship on career planning (77.2%) and research (75.0%). Conclusions: Medical students with strong academic performance as defined by their grades are more likely to participate in formal mentoring programs. Mentoring relationships between faculty and medical students are perceived as a mutually satisfying and effective instrument for key issues in medical students' professional development. Practical implications: Mentoring relationships are a highly effective means of enhancing the bidirectional flow of information between faculty and medical students. A mentoring program can thus establish a feedback loop enabling the educational institution to swiftly identify and address issues of medical students.

The Unwritten Rules of Mentorship: Facilitators of and Barriers to Effective Mentorship in Pediatric Hospital Medicine

Hospital Pediatrics, 2016

OBJECTIVES: Benefits of effective mentorship include career satisfaction and academic productivity. Given the youth of pediatric hospital medicine (PHM), effective mentorship is a widely acknowledged challenge. This study aimed to characterize successful pediatric hospitalists’ past and current mentorship experiences and identify facilitators of and barriers to effective mentorship in PHM. METHODS: Semistructured phone interviews were conducted with peer-nominated pediatric hospitalists, exploring past and current mentorship experiences and approaches perceived to aid or hinder mentorship relationships from both the mentor and mentee perspectives. Interviews were recorded verbatim, professionally transcribed, and analyzed by using a general inductive approach. RESULTS: Sixteen interviews were conducted and transcribed. Participants reported having a median of 3 mentors and 6 mentees. Three themes emerged regarding how mentors can optimize mentorship: (1) comprehensive focus on the m...

Medical mentorship deconstructed: an analysis and structural recommendation for high value mentorship

MedEdPublish, 2022

Background: Mentorship is a necessary component for young students to pursue a career in medicine. In medically underserved areas, mentorship can be sparse due to the lack of access to healthcare professionals. The purpose of this project was to gain an understanding of the mentorship received by practicing medical students. Methods: The authors conducted structured, one-on-one interviews with 10 current medical students about their perceptions and experiences with mentorship. Interviews were transcribed, coded, and analyzed for themes and subthemes. Results: Our findings revolve around three time periods of mentorship: 1) Before Obtaining a Mentor; 2) During the Mentorship; and 3) After the Mentorship. In our findings we describe key characteristics such as professional development, personal qualities of the mentor, and professional and personal guidance as important components in guiding the mentee starting from the undergraduate level and continuing to their current level of edu...

Mentorship in Medicine and Other Health Professions

Journal of cancer education : the official journal of the American Association for Cancer Education, 2018

Mentoring skills are valuable assets for academic medicine and allied health faculty, who influence and help shape the careers of the next generation of healthcare providers. Mentors are role models who also act as guides for students' personal and professional development over time. Mentors can be instrumental in conveying explicit academic knowledge required to master curriculum content. Importantly, they can enhance implicit knowledge about the "hidden curriculum" of professionalism, ethics, values, and the art of medicine not learned from texts. In many cases, mentors also provide emotional support and encouragement. It must be noted that to be an effective mentor, one must engage in ongoing learning in order to strengthen and further mentoring skills. Thus, learning communities can provide support, education, and personal development for the mentor. The relationship benefits mentors as well through greater productivity, career satisfaction, and personal gratificat...

A year of mentoring in academic medicine

Journal of General Internal Medicine, 2004

We describe a specific mentoring approach in an academic general internal medicine setting by audiotaping and transcribing all mentoring sessions in the year. In advance, the mentor recorded his model. During the year, the mentee kept a process journal.

A novel approach to medical mentoring

The Clinical Teacher, 2020

SUMMARYBackgroundMentoring is integral to the development of doctors in complex, pressured, work‐based environments. At the Royal Children's Hospital (RCH), anecdotally mentoring was successful in informal relationships, but a formalised small group programme was not seen as effective by junior doctors (residents). Drawing from corporate and medical literature, as well as considering survey data from our junior and senior doctor cohorts, we surmised that a self‐selected online approach would empower both the mentor and the mentee.MethodJunior resident medical officers (JRMOs), in postgraduate year 2–4 (PGY 2–4) at RCH, are invited to participate in a self‐selected dyad mentoring programme. The mentors volunteer their time and knowledge and come from the registrar (PGY3 and 4) and fellow (PGY5 and 6) cohorts. This programme ran in 2017 for 10 months and the mentees were advised to be in contact with their mentor every 6–8 weeks. Thirty JRMO mentees and 36 mentors opted in to the ...

Being a mentor for undergraduate medical students enhances personal and professional development

Medical Teacher, 2010

Background: There is increasing evidence of the positive effects of mentoring in medical undergraduate programmes, but as far as we know, no studies on the effects for the mentors have yet been described in the field of medicine. Aim: This study aims to evaluate an undergraduate mentor programme from the mentors' perspective, focusing particularly on the effect of mentorship, the relationships between mentoring and teaching and the mentors' perceived professional and personal development. Methods: Data was gathered through a questionnaire to all 83 mentors (response rate 75%) and semi-structured interviews with a representative sample of 10 mentors. Results: Findings show, for example, that a majority of respondents developed their teaching as a result of their mentorship and improved their relations with students. Most respondents also claimed that being a mentor led to an increased interest in teaching and increased reflections regarding their own values and work practices. Conclusion: Being a mentor was perceived as rewarding and may lead to both personal and professional development.