Exploring Mentorship as a Strategy to Build Capacity and Optimize the Embedded Scientist Workforce

Area of Science:

• Health services research
• Academic and professional development
• Organizational learning

Background:

• Mentorship is crucial for career development but under-documented in health system-embedded academic training.
• The Health System Impact (HSI) Fellowship provides a unique model for examining mentorship in this context.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify mentorship strategies used within the HSI Fellowship.
• To explore fellows' and supervisors' perspectives on the effectiveness and value of these strategies.

Main Methods:

• Utilized survey data from fellows and supervisors.
• Incorporated insights from a panel discussion with the inaugural HSI Fellowship cohort.

Main Results:

• Health system and academic supervisors employed innovative, individualized mentorship approaches.
• Strategies included establishing mentor committees, regular joint meetings, and network leveraging.

Conclusions:

• Engaging senior leadership in health systems positively impacts fellows' and mentors' experiences.
• This highlights the importance of leadership support in health system-embedded training programs.