A survey of dermatology residency program directors' views on mentorship

It is increasingly recognized that mentoring is important in the career development of resident physicians. The purpose of the study was to determine the views of residency Program Directors on mentorship through a cross sectional survey.

Respondents included program directors of academic dermatology departments in the United States.

Fifty-three of 108 program directors completed an on-line survey (response rate 49%). Eighty-one percent of respondents indicated that mentorship played a 'somewhat' or 'very important' role in their own career development and a similar proportion considered it important for residents to have mentors. Fifty percent of program directors identified a need for more structured mentorship within the residency program. Compared to male program directors, a greater proportion of female program directors stated that mentorship played a very important role in their career development (89% vs. 36%, p=0.007) and a lesser proportion stated that it was important for female dermatology residents to specifically have access to female mentors (11.1% vs. 67.4%, p=0.003).

Program Directors viewed mentoring as an important resource for their residents' professional development. A need was identified for additional strategies to help residents find mentors.