A Scoping Review of Health Care Faculty Mentorship Programs in Academia: Implications for Program Design, Implementation, and Outcome Evaluation

Increasing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Health and Health Services Research Workforce: A Systematic Scoping Review

Health and health services research institutions seek to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) to overcome structural bias. The objective of this review is to identify, characterize, and evaluate programs aimed to strengthen DEI in the health and health services research workforces. We conducted a systematic scoping review of literature of 2012-2022 North American peer-reviewed empirical studies in PubMed and Embase using the Arksey and O'Malley approach. This review identified 62 programs that varied in focus, characteristics, and outcomes. Programs focused on supporting a spectrum of underrepresented groups based on race/ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability status, and socioeconomic status. The majority of programs targeted faculty/investigators, compared to other workforce roles. Most programs were 1 year in length or less. The practices employed within programs included skills building, mentoring, and facilitating the development of social networks. To support program infrastructure, key strategies included supportive leadership, inclusive climate, resource allocation, and community engagement. Most programs evaluated success based on shorter-term metrics such as the number of grants submitted and manuscripts published. Relatively few programs collected long-term outcomes on workforce pathway outcomes including hiring, promotion, and retention. This systematic scoping review outlined prevalent practices to advance DEI in the health and health services research field. As DEI programs proliferate, more work is needed by research universities, institutes, and funders to realign institutional culture and structures, expand resources, advance measurement, and increase opportunities for underrepresented groups at every career stage.

Building stronger foundations: exploring a collaborative faculty mentoring workshop for in-depth growth

BACKGROUND

Mentorship training programs demand a paradigm shift from theory-driven to hands-on practical approach with prioritization of preparation of mentors and mentees for their roles through self-awareness and targeted professional development planning. There is a lack of evidence generated from the health professions education institutions of global south regarding effectiveness of workshops in fostering mentorship culture.

METHODS

This mixed method study with convergent parallel design was conducted through a collaborative mentoring workshop; "Faculty Mentoring-Building stronger by digging deeper" by Aga khan University Medical College, Karachi and University of Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Objective of the research was to emphasize the importance of faculty mentoring program, roles and responsibilities of mentors and mentees and perception of the participants regarding the associated role of institutions. It aimed to educate faculty members to develop personal development plans for becoming effective mentors and mentees. The demographic data was collected before the workshop, during the workshop data was collected from SWOT analysis, followed by goal settings and the action plans made by participants at the end. Post workshop online feedback was acquired by a questionnaire to comprehend participants' educational attainment. Association between quantitative findings was done through ANOVA, while the qualitative data was subjected to thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Total of 37 faculty members participated in the hands-on workshop. All faculty equally perceived the workshop as satisfactory and reported that hands-on practice led to positive experience of setting clear goals and action plans in developing oneself both as mentor and mentee. Themes identified were; Faculty Mentorship Program, Personal development Plan of Mentors and Mentees and Building Positive Mentor-Mentee Relationships. Voluntary structured program, choice of more than one faculty mentor and portfolio development based on personal SWOT was recommended by participants for the success of formal mentoring programs.

CONCLUSION

Medical Faculty of Pakistani Universities at all career levels is interested in development of formal mentoring programs in their universities. Formal training for the same is also recommended by the participants. Institutions should cultivate a culture of mentorship that supports the professional growth and success of academics for cultivating the minds that are in turn shaping our future generations.

The Effectiveness of a Tailored Faculty Development Program for Undergraduate Mentoring and Its Impact on Mentor's Perceptions: A Mixed Methods Study

OBJECTIVE

"Anubandh" the existing mentorship program at our institute used to start with enthusiasm but lacked sustainability throughout the year. This study aimed to assess the need for designing and conducting a faculty development program (FDP) and evaluating its impact on effective mentoring.

METHODOLOGY

FDP was designed by assessing the perception of 50 teachers regarding undergraduate (UG) mentoring at a tertiary care teaching institute in central India, the NKP Salve Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Center and Lata Mangeshkar Hospital, Nagpur, India. It was developed and conducted by focusing on the global overview, mentoring policies of the institute and rationale while implementing mentorship. The effectiveness of FDP was tested by a change in pretest-posttest scores for assessing their knowledge and reflections on undergraduate mentoring.

RESULTS

In the pre-FDP perceptions by mentors, the majority agreed that mentorship should be an integral part of the UG curriculum. Teachers felt that mentorship is an additional workload that needs to be given weightage in self-appraisal forms. A total of 81.2% of mentors emphasized on need for academic, social, and personal mentoring. After the FDP, there was a statistically significant improvement in the knowledge and attitude of mentors in all the assessed domains (χ2=2.648; df=6; p<0.05) like the need for UG mentoring in medical college and the role of faculties as a mentor. FDP sessions were appreciated by mentors for being motivating, interactive, and highly engaging with speakers having good oratory skills and using inspiring techniques with an overall rating of 9.2/10.

CONCLUSION

There was an overall positive attitude about mentoring but many expressed the need for training in mentorship. The FDP was highly effective in improving the knowledge and attitude of mentors for effective mentoring.

Mentoring for Admission and Retention of Black Socio-Ethnic Minorities in Medicine: A Scoping Review

Purpose

Despite numerous mentoring strategies to promote academic success and eligibility in medicine, Black students remain disproportionately underrepresented in medicine. Therefore, we conducted a scoping review to identify the mentoring practices available to Black pre-medical students, medical students and medical residents, specifically the mentoring strategies used, their application, and their evaluation.

Method

Between May 2023 and October 2023, the authors conducted a literature review. Studies that described a mentoring strategy applied among Black learners were eligible for inclusion, and all years of publication were included. Two reviewers screened each article using the Covidence tool, and conflicts were resolved by a third author. All reviewers extracted the data to summarize the various mentoring practices.

Results

After screening 6292 articles, 42 articles met the criteria for full review. Of these, 14 studies were included in the study. Mentoring practices for Black students included peer mentoring, dyad mentoring, and group mentoring. Mentoring was typically offered through discussion groups, educational internships, and didactic activities. Evaluation of mentoring programs took into account (1) pass rates on medical exams (eg, MCAT, Casper), (2) receipt of an invitation to a medical school admissions interview, (3) successful match to a competitive residency program, and (4) a mentee's report of the overall experience and effectiveness of the program.

Conclusion

This review is the first, to our knowledge, to focus on mentoring strategies implemented among Black learners in medicine. The results will inform mentoring strategies adapted for Black learners and will therefore address the underrepresentation of Black students in medicine.

[Mentorship in electrophysiology : What does it take? What's the advantage?]

Mentoring has long been a fundamental part of medical education. In this article, the term mentoring is defined and the requirements, advantages, and methods of structuring are discussed. Further, the use of mentoring in the context of education in electrophysiology will be highlighted. In this setting, requirements on the personal level of mentors and mentees as well as on the institutional level are outlined, and different phases and types of mentoring are discussed.

Key Attributes of a Medical Learning Community Mentor at One Medical School: The Mentee Perspective

To assess the elements necessary to be a successful learning community (ClinCalc) mentor to medical students from the mentee's perspective. Few such studies have utilized the in-depth and richness of detail obtained in qualitative studies. This qualitative study analyzed four focus group discussions lasting 45-90 min conducted at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, which has an established LC, in the year 2018. The groups included 14 pre-clerkship and 8 clerkship students. Investigators evaluated transcriptions of the focus group discussions using ATLAS.ti software. Three overarching categories of discussion emerged from the group discussions: (1) Relationship Competence, (2) Teaching Competence, and (3) Ethical and Compassionate Medical Practice Competence. Relationship Competence themes included "walk with me," relationship is most important, and one-on-one. Teaching Competence themes included above and beyond, recognize and address mentor limitations, and safe and enriching environment. Ethical and Compassionate Medical Practice Competence themes included ethical decision making and compassionate care for diverse patient populations. Mentees focused on various aspects of the mentor-mentee relationship as the single most essential competence. Themes mentees discussed as important qualities of a successful mentor may denote qualities to be prioritized in faculty development and mentor recruitment. Future studies could investigate how the LC environment informs former medical students and promotes patient outcomes.