Evaluation of a Mentoring Program for New Pediatric Department Chairs

Abstract

From the Department of Pediatrics, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO; Department of Pediatrics, Wake Forest School of Medicine, WinstonSalem, NC; Department of Pediatrics, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE; Department of Pediatrics, University ofMassachusettsMedical School, Worcester, MA; Department of Pediatrics, Wayne State University School of n 2007 the Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs (AMSPDC) became concerned about the high turnover rate of pediatric department chairs (PDC). In a study of 123 departments, there was a mean annual turnover rate of 17%, and the rate was particularly high among new and female PDC. A later study showed that there were very high rates of dissatisfaction and high “burnout” scores among PDC. To address this concern, AMSPDC developed a New Chair’s Committee charged with developing a formal mentoring program specifically for new PDC. Mentoring of medical school faculty has been widely recommended and shown to increase career growth and satisfaction, and increase faculty retention, yet there is very little literature about mentoring programs for new academic department chairs. The short-term goal of mentoring was to assist new PDC to acquire the skills to oversee the programs within their department, and the long-term goal was to improve rates of retention. The current survey was performed to evaluate the performance of the program as perceived by the prot eg es and mentors after 6 years of operation.