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Mentorship in General Surgery Residency: A Qualitative Study
Terrance Peng1, Sloan Senofsky1, Kruti Desai1
1Department of Surgery, UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
The American Surgeon
|April 15, 2026
Summary
General surgery residents need evolving mentorship, often fulfilled by multiple mentors, including near-peers. Effective mentorship requires active seeking and mentor responsiveness for successful surgical training.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Surgical Training
- Mentorship
Background:
- Mentorship is crucial for surgical residency and careers.
- Effective mentorship practices are not well-defined for general surgery programs.
- Residency programs seek to implement mentorship interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore general surgery residents' perspectives on mentorship.
- To identify best practices for fostering effective mentoring relationships.
- To understand the evolving needs of residents throughout training.
Main Methods:
- Individual semi-structured interviews with general surgery residents.
- Thematic coding of transcribed and de-identified interview data.
- Analysis of perspectives from 20 residents across different training levels.
Main Results:
- Mentorship needs change from research focus (early) to career development (late).
- Multiple mentors, including near-peers and faculty, fulfill diverse roles.
- Informal relationships are valued but require active resident engagement; responsiveness is key.
Conclusions:
- General surgery residents benefit from mentorship teams combining formal and informal relationships.
- Near-peer mentors are valuable components of mentorship teams.
- Programs should support residents in forming informal mentoring relationships.
