Abstract
The purpose of this study was to describe the current practice of mentorship in clinical microbiology (CM) and infectious diseases (ID) training, to identify possible areas for improvement and to assess the factors that are associated with satisfactory mentorship. An international cross-sectional survey containing 35 questions was answered by 317 trainees or specialists who recently completed clinical training. Overall, 179/317 (56%) trainees were satisfied with their mentors, ranging from 7/9 (78%) in non-European countries, 39/53 (74%) in Northern Europe, 13/22 (59%) in Eastern Europe, 61/110 (56%) in Western Europe, 37/76 (49%) in South-Western Europe to 22/47 (47%) in South-Eastern Europe. However, only 115/317 (36%) respondents stated that they were assigned an official mentor during their training. In multivariable logistic regression analysis, the satisfaction of trainees was significantly associated with having a mentor who was a career model (OR 6.4, 95%CI 3.5–11.7), gave constructive feedback on work performance (OR 3.3, 95%CI 1.8–6.2), and knew the family structure of the mentee (OR 5.5, 95%CI 3.0–10.1). If trainees felt overburdened, 70/317 (22%) felt that they could not talk to their mentors. Moreover, 67/317 (21%) stated that they could not talk to their mentor when unfairly treated and 59/317 (19%) felt uncertain. Training boards and authorities responsible for developing and monitoring CM&ID training programmes should invest in the development of high-quality mentorship programmes for trainees in order to contribute to the careers of the next generation of professionals.
Highlights
Mentorship is a professional interaction that occurs between two people, i.e. mentor and mentee, of different levels of knowledge and expertise [1]
Mentorship is recognised as a fundamental tool for professional development, and the presence of a mentor has been associated with positive training outcomes, greater career satisfaction and better work-life balance of mentees [4,5,6]
This study aimed to describe for the first time the current practice of mentorship in clinical microbiology (CM)&infectious diseases (ID) training in Europe, especially, to identify possible areas for improvement and to assess factors that are associated with satisfactory mentorship
Summary
Mentorship is a professional interaction that occurs between two people, i.e. mentor and mentee, of different levels of knowledge and expertise [1]. Extended author information available on the last page of the article development [2, 3]. Mentorship is recognised as a fundamental tool for professional development, and the presence of a mentor has been associated with positive training outcomes, greater career satisfaction and better work-life balance of mentees [4,5,6]. It is considered one of the most critical determinants of career success in medicine and research [7, 8]
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