693 - Training Future Clinicians to be Effective Mentors

Publication Number: 2676.693

Shamim B. Mustafa, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United States; Alvaro G. Moreira, University of Texas Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United States

Background: Effective mentorship by established faculty facilitates junior faculty to develop and attain their professional goals of balancing clinical, administrative, research, and teaching responsibilities. In addition to being mentored, these individuals also find themselves in the role of a ‘mentor’ to trainees. This can be particularly daunting for fellows transitioning directly from residency or fellowship programs and have not had any training or experience of being a mentor.

Objective: This pilot study evaluates the impact of a structured educational intervention on pediatric fellows self-perceived preparedness and confidence to serve as effective mentors.

Design/Methods: Pediatric fellows (PGY4-6) received a 1h interactive lecture with four key objectives: a) understand the elements of mentoring; b) characteristics of a good fellow mentor; c) appreciate the importance of effective communication, and d) recognize and resolve challenges of mentoring. The topics were adapted from the Entering Mentoring curriculum (Pfund et al, 2015). To gauge the lectures impact, anonymous pre-and post-lecture surveys asked fellows to rate their suitability and willingness to be a mentor, and the importance of a good relationship, frequent communication, discussing goals and expectations, and constructive feedback with a trainee (medical student or resident) utilizing 5-point Likert scales. Responses were analyzed by the Wilcoxon signed rank test using R software. A p-value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Attendees also completed a lecture evaluation.

Results: 45 fellows participated in the lectures. The pre-lecture survey collected responses from 40 fellows, while the post-lecture survey was completed by 18 fellows. An analysis of pre- and post-lecture responses revealed a statistically significant increase (p < 0.016) in fellows' self-assessment of their suitability for mentoring a trainee after the lecture. No significant changes were observed in willingness to mentor or attitudes towards relationship-building, communication, goals/expectations, or feedback domains where baseline scores were already high.

Conclusion(s): A targeted lecture significantly improved fellows’ self-assessed readiness to mentor, suggesting that a single educational session can enhance confidence in taking on mentoring roles. This intervention may support the professional development of fellows as they transition to junior faculty. Future directions include converting the session into a comprehensive 2-hour workshop and offering it to clinical fellows across specialties.

Fellows rated that they were very suitable at mentoring a trainee when comparing pre-and post-lecture responses (p < 0.016)
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