Facilitated Peer Mentorship: A Pilot Program for Academic Advancement of Female Medical Faculty

Abstract

This new model of facilitated peer mentorship demonstrated success in a small-scale pilot program. Expansion of this program and other creative solutions to the lack of mentoring for women may result in greater numbers of women achieving academic advancement.

Identifying Components of Success Within Health Sciences-Focused Mentoring Programs Through a Review of the Literature

“…The specific composition of health science disciplines varied across studies; 23 programs included single disciplines only (68%) and 11 mentoring programs included multiple schools/disciplines (32%), with two of those programs being open to the entire institution. 20,21 Of those focusing on single schools or disciplines, four programs focused on pharmacy, 22-25 13 on medicine, 14,19,[26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36] and six on nursing. [37][38][39][40][41][42] In most programs, mentees were characterized as early career faculty, whereas other programs accepted mentees of all rank.…”

“…Notable commonalities in menteereported improvement in confidence ratings included gaining a better understanding of promotion and advancement 14,18,27,44,50,52 and a better understanding of department or university roles/responsibilities and processes. 14,15,34 Other outcomes within the self-efficacy/self-confidence domain included enhanced knowledge of the research funding process, 18,50 improved writing skills, 28,33 and enriched worklife balance. 27,50 Other findings are presented in Appendix 1.…”

“…The number of programs reporting improvements/ success in the outcome category of scholarly activity is listed in Table 2. Success for scholarly activity (grants or manuscripts/publications) was classified in one or more ways: an increase from baseline or comparator group (10 studies),^self-reported improvement (six studies), 28,31,[37][38][39]51 or by determination by the study team (two studies). 29,32 Of The number of programs reporting improvements/ success in the outcome category of promotion/retention is listed in Table 2.…”

“…Of the successful programs, five reported an improvement relative to either baseline or a comparator group, [15][16][17]26,27,33,53 and six presented data the research team determined was demonstrable of success. 20,22,28,29,32,37 Of the six programs that were determined by the research team to be successful, three reported 100% success rate for program participants that applied for promotion and one study reported 11 of 12 participants achieved promotion during the study period. 20,28,29,37 One program reported approximately half of their participants were promoted within a short threeyear time frame.…”

A Critical Appraisal of and Recommendations for Faculty Development

“…A small pilot program used a ''facilitated mentoring model'' to address the unique needs of women. 41 This model involved senior women faculty members serving as mentors to a group of younger women who, in turn, acted as peer mentors to each another. The pilot program was divided into 3 phases: skills acquisition and enhancement, skills application, and group research project development.…”