Does mentoring matter: results from a survey of faculty mentees at a large health sciences university.

BACKGROUND: To determine the characteristics associated with having a mentor, the association of mentoring with self-efficacy, and the content of mentor-mentee interactions at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), we conducted a baseline assessment prior to implementing a comprehensive faculty mentoring program. METHOD: We surveyed all prospective junior faculty mentees at UCSF. Mentees completed a web-based, 38-item survey including an assessment of self-efficacy and a needs assessment. We used descriptive and inferential statistics to determine the association between having a mentor and gender, ethnicity, faculty series, and self-efficacy. RESULTS: Our respondents (n=464, 56%) were 53% female, 62% white, and 7% from underrepresented minority groups. More than half of respondents (n=319) reported having a mentor. There were no differences in having a mentor based on gender or ethnicity (p>or=0.05). Clinician educator faculty with more teaching and patient care responsibilities were statistically significantly less likely to have a mentor compared with faculty in research intensive series (p<0.001). Having a mentor was associated with greater satisfaction with time allocation at work (p<0.05) and with higher academic self-efficacy scores, 6.07 (sd = 1.36) compared with those without a mentor, 5.33 (sd = 1.35, p<0.001). Mentees reported that they most often discussed funding with the mentors, but rated highest requiring mentoring assistance with issues of promotion and tenure. CONCLUSION: Findings from the UCSF faculty mentoring program may assist other health science institutions plan similar programs. Mentoring needs for junior faculty with greater teaching and patient care responsibilities must be addressed.

Categorization of unprofessional behaviours identified during administration of and remediation after a comprehensive clinical performance examination using a validated professionalism framework.

BACKGROUND: Unprofessional behaviours by medical students predict future disciplinary outcomes. Comprehensive clinical performance examinations (CPXs) that are commonly employed to evaluate learners may provide an opportunity to identify unprofessional behaviours. AIMS: To categorize the professionalism problems that occur during the CPX and subsequent remediation of students who perform poorly. METHODS: We interviewed 33 individuals responsible for remediation after the CPX at 33 medical schools. We applied a validated framework for characterizing unprofessional behaviours to the professionalism problems described. We searched transcripts for 119 descriptors representing eight categories of unprofessional behaviour from this framework. RESULTS: Eighteen interviewees identified professionalism as a problem during the examination and subsequent remediation. Unprofessional behaviours reported to occur in order of most to least mentioned, where a diminished capacity for self-improvement, impaired relationships with patients, irresponsibility, poor initiative and unprofessional behaviour associated with anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: Unprofessional behaviours are exhibited during the CPX and subsequent remediation. The frequently occurring behaviours of irresponsibility and diminished capacity for self-improvement are predictive of future professionalism problems and co-occur with behaviours that preclude meaningful patient relationships. A framework for identifying unprofessional behaviours may be useful in the formal assessment of professionalism during the CPX.