Results of a Formal Mentorship Program for Internal Medicine Residents: Can We Facilitate Genuine Mentorship?

ABSTRACT: Mentorship programs are perceived as valuable, yet little is known about the effect of program design on mentoring effectiveness.We developed a program focused on mentoring relationship quality and evaluated how subsequent relationships compared to preexisting informal pairings.Faculty members were invited by e-mail to participate in a new mentoring program. Participants were asked to complete a biography, subsequently provided to second- and third-year internal medicine residents. Residents were instructed to contact available mentors, and ultimately designate a formal mentor. All faculty and residents were provided a half-day workshop training, written guidelines, and e-mails. Reminders were e-mailed and announced in conferences approximately monthly. Residents were surveyed at the end of the academic year.Thirty-seven faculty members completed the biography, and 70% (26 of 37) of residents responded to the survey. Of the resident respondents, 77% (20 of 26) chose a formal mentor. Of the remainder, most had a previous informal mentor. Overall, 96% (25 of 26) of the residents had identified a mentor of some kind compared to 50% (13 of 26) before the intervention (P?

SUBMITTER: Cohee BM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4507898 | biostudies-other | 2015 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other