Teaching Mentoring: Utilizing a Resident-Student Peer Mentorship Program as a Tool to Educate Residents About the Core Components of Mentoring

Abstract

Mentorship plays a critical role in the career development of trainees in medicine. Previous formalized radiation oncology (RO) mentorship programs have led to increased satisfaction in mentor-mentee experiences and earlier development of preceptor skills in the mentee, such as higher promotion and grant acquisition rates. 1 Efstathiou J.A. Drumm M.R. Paly J.P. et al. Long-term impact of a faculty mentoring program in academic medicine. PloS One. 2018; 13 (Article e0207634) Crossref PubMed Scopus (17) Google Scholar However, there is an observed lack of clinical mentorship in RO and limited formal education to teach residents how to become effective mentors. 2 Garman K.A. Wingard D.L. Reznik V. Development of junior faculty's self-efficacy: Outcomes of a national center of leadership in academic medicine. Acad Med. 2001; 76: S74-S76 Crossref PubMed Scopus (37) Google Scholar ,3 John A. Marsiglio MS et al. Mentorship Initiatives in Radiation Oncology: A Scoping Review of the Literature. IJROBP, 2021 Google Scholar Common reasons for dissatisfaction in mentorship experiences among RO residents includes difficulty identifying a mentor, time commitment of a mentor, and inexperience of selected mentors. 3 John A. Marsiglio MS et al. Mentorship Initiatives in Radiation Oncology: A Scoping Review of the Literature. IJROBP, 2021 Google Scholar We hypothesize that a formalized resident-medical student mentorship program would improve residents' mentorship skills, expectations, and confidence while further developing a mentorship culture in RO residency.