Residents' Experiences with Mentorship in Academic Medicine

Although mentorship is essential for the professional development of physicians, the literature on trainees' mentorship experiences and perceptions of effective mentoring is more limited. This descriptive study examines residents' experiences of mentoring and their perceptions about the impact of mentorship on professional development, comparing experiences in mentoring that is assigned versus self-initiated.

A web-based self-administered cross-sectional survey of all senior residents (≥PGY-3) at a major urban academic medical center was conducted from March 27 to May 31, 2015.

Of the 327 eligible senior residents, 204 (62%) responded and completed the survey. Most residents (82%) reported multiple mentors and 65% reported that their primary mentorship relationship was self-initiated. Residents who self-initiated their primary mentorship were significantly more likely to strongly/somewhat agree that their mentor had a positive impact on publications and scholarly projects (88 vs 44%, p = 0.0063) as well as research (88 vs 55%, p = 0.0001) compared to residents with assigned mentorship, with no significant differences measured by gender, race, or ethnicity. Forty-four percent of residents indicated they had unmet needs for mentoring in at least one of several professional areas.

Most residents perceive mentoring relationships as important to many aspects of their career development. Still 44% of residents reported unmet needs for mentoring in one or more areas, a result that needs further exploration. Since the majority of residents' primary mentoring relationships were self-initiated rather than assigned, and these were seen as more important for research and publications, programs should consider how to support the connection between residents and potential mentors.