Mentor communication skills training: development, feasibility, and preliminary efficacy.

Area of Science:

• Academic Medicine
• Oncology Faculty Development
• Mentorship Training

Background:

• Effective communication is crucial for academic medicine mentorship.
• Few faculty receive formal training in mentoring skills.
• A novel intervention, Mentor Communication Skills Training for Oncology Faculty (Comskil Mentor Training), was developed.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility of the Comskil Mentor Training program.
• To evaluate the preliminary efficacy of the Comskil Mentor Training program.

Main Methods:

• A single-arm, pre-post intervention study design was employed.
• The virtual 3-hour training included didactic lectures, skill demonstration videos, and role-playing exercises.
• Nineteen faculty members from 12 departments participated.

Main Results:

• All participants completed the training, with over 80% rating it favorably.
• Significant improvements were observed in participants' self-efficacy for communicating with mentees.
• Post-training assessments showed enhanced use of communication skills and mentoring-specific language.

Conclusions:

• The virtually delivered, experiential mentor communication skills training is feasible for oncology faculty.
• The program shows preliminary efficacy in improving communication skills and self-efficacy for mentors.