Efficacy of an Interinstitutional Mentoring Program Within Pediatric Rheumatology

Abstract

Objective The small size of many pediatric rheumatology programs translates into limited mentoring options for early career physicians. To address this problem, the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and the Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance (CARRA) developed a subspecialty‐wide interinstitutional mentoring program, the ACR/CARRA Mentoring Interest Group (AMIGO). We sought to assess the impact of this program on mentoring within pediatric rheumatology. Methods In a longitudinal 3‐year study, participant ratings from the AMIGO pilot program were compared with those after the program was opened to general enrollment. Access to mentoring as a function of career stage was assessed by surveys of the US and Canadian pediatric rheumatologists in 2011 and 2014, before and after implementation of AMIGO. Results Participants in the pilot phase (19 dyads) and the general implementation phase (112 dyads) reported comparable success in establishing mentor contact, suitability of mentor‐mentee pairing, and benefit with respect to career development, scholarship, and work‐life balance. Community surveys showed that AMIGO participation as mentee was high among fellows (86%) and modest among junior faculty (31%). Implementation correlated with significant gains in breadth of mentorship and in overall satisfaction with mentoring for fellows but not junior faculty. Conclusion AMIGO is a career mentoring program that serves most fellows and many junior faculty in pediatric rheumatology across the US and Canada. Program evaluation data confirm that a subspecialty‐wide interinstitutional mentoring program is feasible and can translate into concrete improvement in mentoring, measurable at the level of the whole professional community.

Long‐term evidence that a pediatric oncology mentorship program for young investigators is feasible and beneficial in the cooperative group setting: A report from the Children's Oncology Group

“…There have been several other successful multiinstitutional mentorship programs piloted in pediatrics, including a successful pilot by the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology (ASPHO), which provides earlier access to mentorship while still in academic training. Fourteen of the first 16 mentees in the ASPHO program agreed that the program was a rewarding experience .…”

Barriers and Facilitators of Mentoring for Trainees and Early Career Investigators in Rheumatology Research: Current State, Identification of Needs, and Road Map to an Inter‐Institutional Adult Rheumatology Mentoring Program

“…Enhancing effective mentorship for ECI may be achieved through a broad-based intervention. For example, the ACR/Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance (CARRA) Mentoring Interest Group (AMIGO) program, a national inter-institutional mentoring program for pediatric rheumatologists that was established in 2010, has demonstrated concrete benefits of such an intervention in rheumatology mentorship (4, 5). While other opportunities to optimize mentoring and career development exist for rheumatology trainees (Table 1), an inter-institutional mentoring program similar to AMIGO has not been developed for adult rheumatology trainees in the US.…”

Mentoring for postdoctoral researchers in rheumatology: the Emerging EULAR Network (EMEUNET) post-doc mentoring programme

“…In contrast to other mentoring approaches, entry to this programme was based on a competitive open call. Acknowledging the importance of mentor–mentee matching for a successful mentoring relationship,6 33 the mentees were allowed to select the mentor (from the provided list) that best fitted their expectations. The overall satisfaction with the mentors’ feedback and the mentoring experience confirmed that this approach was satisfactory for both parts, and no mismatches were signalled.…”

“…Navigating a remote programme with a flexible structure can be challenging, especially in the absence of previous successful mentoring 26. Introductory forms, templates or dedicated information materials have been advocated to overcome such challenges6 34 although most initiatives do not make use of these documents. In line with this, we developed our own IDP as a systematic document covering the whole mentoring process.…”

“…Mentoring refers to an extended relationship through which a person of advanced professional standing guides a more junior colleague towards career success and professional growth 6 7. Academic mentoring means that this relationship is focused on education, research and career goals.…”