Developing Mentoring Competency: Does a One Session Training Workshop Have Impact?

Abstract

Mentorship remains vital to the career development, research productivity, and professional advancement of healthcare professionals in all disciplines of academic medicine. Recent studies describe mentor training initiatives aimed at increasing mentoring competency through multisession training curricula. Although the published results of these programs are promising, they require the following: (1) substantial financial resources from the institution, and (2) continuous participation and time commitment from faculty, which may reduce participation and effectiveness. A single, half-day of evidence-based mentor training would represent a more cost-effective and accessible option for educating mentors. The present study investigates the impact of a half-day interactive mentor training workshop on mentoring competency in faculty, staff, and trainees of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences at McMaster University. Overall, participants' self-reported mentoring competency mean scores were significantly higher post-workshop compared to pre-workshop ratings [mean = 4.48 vs. 5.02 pre- and post-workshop, respectively; F(1, 31) = 18.386, P < 0.001, η p2 = 0.37]. Survey respondents gave positive feedback and reported greater understanding of mentorship and specific mentoring changes they planned to apply after attending the workshop. Academic and healthcare institutions may use this framework to guide the development of a half-day mentoring workshop into their education programs.