Session : ID Medical Education

134 - IDWeek Clinician Educator Mentoring Program for Junior Faculty

Oral Abstract

Location: On Demand

Background: Effective career mentorship enhances well-being, productivity, and advancement in academic medicine. The pathway to success for clinician educators (CE) is often ill-defined. Career development resources and support for this pathway vary across institutions. To address this need, we created a mentoring program pairing junior faculty pursuing careers as CEs with more experienced CEs from other institutions during IDWeek 2018 and 2019.

Methods: Prior to IDWeek 2018 and 2019, a survey was sent through the IDSA listserv to identify members pursuing CE careers interested in extra-institutional career mentorship. These faculty were paired with mentors who were established career CEs identified via the IDSA Medical Education Workgroup. Mentees completed a brief individual development plan (IDP) and identified 3 discussion topics. Mentors received the mentee’s IDP and CV prior to IDWeek and were given brief guidance on successful mentoring. One hour advising sessions were held during IDWeek and ended with the creation of a mentee action plan and a scheduled follow-up call. Post-participation surveys were sent to mentees and mentors.

Results: 31 different mentees and 15 mentors participated in the program over two years. 26 (84%) mentees completed the post-session survey. 25 (96%) mentees and 14 (93%) mentors reported being very satisfied with their meetings at IDWeek. All mentees created an action plan with their mentor. 16 (62%) strongly agreed and 10 (38%) somewhat agreed that they planned to make changes based on the meeting. 21 (81%) mentees strongly agreed they received advice they were unable to get at their own institution. After the session, 18 (69%) strongly agreed they felt connected to a supportive CE community at IDSA; none strongly agreed in the pre-survey. All mentors and mentees agreed that this program was a resource that IDSA should consider expanding. Qualitative response themes from mentees emphasized the usefulness of an external perspective.

Conclusion: A mentoring program for junior faculty during IDWeek was feasible and effective for CEs. Through these interactions, mentees planned changes to enhance their careers and felt newly supported by the IDSA community. This model could be used for other ID career paths at future meetings.

Presenting Author(s)

Vera Luther, MD

Associate Professor of Medicine Director, Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program Associate Medical Director, Antimicrobial Stewardship Program
Wake Forest School of Medicine Wake Forest Baptist Health System
Winston Salem, North Carolina

Disclosure: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Slides Slides and Audio

Co-Author(s)

WA

Wendy Armstrong, MD

Professor of Medicine
Emory University
Atlanta, Georgia

Disclosure: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.
Erin Bonura, MD, MCR

Associate Professor
Oregon Health & Science University
Portland, Oregon

Disclosure: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.
Michael Melia, MD

Assoc. Professor
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, Maryland

Disclosure: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.
David J. Riedel, MD, MPH

Associate Professor
Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland School of Medicine
Baltimore, Maryland

Disclosure: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.
Brian Schwartz, MD

Professor
University of California, San Francisco
San Francisco, California

Disclosure: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.