A Virtual National Diversity Mentoring Initiative to Promote Inclusion in Emergency Medicine

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Diversity and Inclusion in Medicine
• Mentorship Programs

Background:

• Underrepresented in medicine (URiM) trainees face unique challenges in predominantly white academic settings.
• Mentorship is crucial for URiM trainees but access to URiM faculty mentors is limited.
• A gap exists in providing tailored support for URiM trainees in emergency medicine (EM).

Purpose of the Study:

• To address the limited access to URiM faculty mentors for URiM trainees.
• To develop and implement a national virtual mentoring program for URiM trainees interested in EM.
• To provide a supportive community and space for URiM trainees to share experiences.

Main Methods:

• Developed a virtual Diversity Mentoring Initiative (DMI) for URiM trainees interested in EM.
• Partnered with national EM organizations for funding and utilized a comprehensive virtual platform.
• Implemented AI-enabled matching, targeted recruitment, and regular leadership meetings to optimize the program.

Main Results:

• The virtual platform enhanced the efficiency of mentor-mentee pairing.
• Matches were tailored based on participant interests and mentor availability.
• Successfully established cross-institutional connections to support URiM trainees' mentorship needs.

Conclusions:

• The DMI effectively addressed the need for mentorship among URiM trainees in EM.
• Virtual platforms can efficiently facilitate tailored mentorship and support networks.
• The program fostered valuable connections, enhancing the academic and professional development of URiM trainees.