296 - Building the Pipeline: A New Near-Peer Mentorship Program with Trainee to Hospitalist Me

Publication Number: 1282.296

Melissa Baranay, Wake Forest School of Medicine of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, Winston-Salem, NC, United States; Spandana Induru, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States

Background: Pediatric Hospital Medicine (PHM) is an evolving and diverse subspeciality; though established, its nascency limits the exposure pediatric residents have to the specialty. Mentorship during residency is an influential factor on a resident's choice of subspecialty1. Recent workforce survey demonstrates over two-thirds of PHM departments are experiencing workforce shortages2. This underscores the opportunity for PHM mentorship experiences to improve subspecialty entry.

Objective: 1. Understand trends in mentorship for pediatric residents interested in PHM
2. Improve mentoring availability in PHM
3. Increase pediatric residents entering PHM careers

Design/Methods: Electronic sign-up surveys were sent to residents via the American Academy of Pediatrics PHM and Association of Pediatric Program Directors listservs advertising Trainee to Hospitalist Me (TTHM), a webinar program with an invitation to join a near-peer mentorship network. Questions included training year, institution and region, level of interest in PHM as a career, and current mentorship status in PHM as well as what residents wanted to gain from TTHM webinar and mentorship. Survey results were analyzed using descriptive statistics and content analysis.

Results: Over 4 months, 110 residents from 77 different institutions signed up and completed the survey for TTHM. Of enrolled residents, 63% (69/110) are certain or very certain they will go into PHM with 36% (40/110) planning on fellowship and 22% (24/110) planning to enter straight into practice. Only 56% (62/106) currently have a dedicated PHM mentor at their institution (Table 1). Of the 23 (21% of all TTHM residents) that registered for near-peer mentorship, the majority, 57% (13/23), do not have a PHM mentor. Preliminary qualitative analysis of free responses to prompts regarding interest in the program indicated the desire for further discussions on academic pursuits of hospitalists, fellowship versus direct to practice, and maximizing exposure in residency.

Conclusion(s): Our enrollment survey demonstrates the importance of a national webinar and near-peer mentorship program for pediatric residents interested in PHM to meet trainee needs. Over half of respondents did not have a PHM mentor at their home institution at time of TTHM enrollment, though the likelihood of having an identified mentor increased with each subsequent year of residency. Despite over 70 PHM fellowship programs, many residents do not have access to a PHM mentor and identified gaps in understanding of the field, underscoring the need for this program.

Table 1
Characteristics of Trainee to Hospitalist Me Webinar Enrolled Residents