Mentoring of physicians at a community-based health system: preliminary findings

Mentoring has been suggested as 1 way to reduce physician stress and improve professional satisfaction, yet mentoring programs for physicians have focused principally on faculties of academic medical centers. Recently, a formal mentoring program for physicians in full-time clinical practice was created at a regional health system in western Connecticut. We describe the results of a survey of mentees' impressions of the program after its first year.

We surveyed hospitalists and other physicians who had participated in the mentoring program to determine their reasons for participation, whether the program was helpful (and if so in what ways), and their recommendations for improvement.

Twenty-seven of the 39 participants responded to the survey (69%). Hospitalists were the most likely to participate in the mentoring program (18 of 24) and to respond to the survey. Career planning (52%), balance among personal and professional life (43%), and leadership development (38%) were the most common reasons given for meeting with a mentor. All but 1 respondent felt the mentoring program met their expectations by setting goals (62%), planning next steps in their career(60%), and gaining new insights (52%).

Community-based health systems that seek to improve the professional satisfaction of their physicians should be interested in this description of the physician mentoring program of the Western Connecticut Health Network.