Impact of a Mentorship Program to Prepare Medical Students for the Military Residency Match.

INTRODUCTION: Mentorship programs have well-documented benefits to both mentees and mentors. Military medical students face unique challenges in medical school given their service-specific requirements and separate military match process. We therefore aimed to determine whether military medical students' participation in a mentorship program impacts their confidence in applying to obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN) residency. MATERIALS AND METHODS: First, a needs assessment survey regarding the use of a mentorship program was sent to medical students, residents, fellows, and attendings. A structured mentorship program was then developed for military medical students applying to OB/GYN residency based on the survey results. Mentors were randomly paired with mentees and asked to appraise curriculum vitaes, review personal statements, and perform mock interviews. Following completion of these activities, participants were sent a post-intervention questionnaire. This project was exempt by our institution's Institutional Review Board. RESULTS: Our program had 56 participants, with 29 individuals completing our post-intervention survey (response rate 51.8%). After participating in the program, 92.3% of mentors stated they plan to continue a relationship with their mentee. All the mentee respondents stated they would participate in this program again. Before participating in the program, 16.7% of mentees felt "prepared" or "extremely prepared" for the match, compared to 87.6% post-intervention. Most mentee respondents (75%) reported that this program made them a more competitive applicant. Following the mentorship program, 66.7% of participants successfully matched into OB/GYN residency. CONCLUSIONS: This reproducible, well-received intervention can be implemented to facilitate mentoring connections regardless of geographic location. As the OB/GYN specialty develops its own application process, civilian medical schools should consider adopting similar programs to aid their students in navigating the match process.

Increasing Medical Student Involvement in Research: Military Ob/Gyn HeadHunters.

INTRODUCTION: Our goal was to develop a successful research collaboration program, Military Ob/Gyn HeadHunters, to connect military medical students with residents, fellows, and staff physicians across the Military Health System (MHS) to foster research collaboration and mentorship. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a needs assessment of medical students from the Uniformed Services University and Health Professions Scholarship Program as well as staff physicians, residents, and fellows practicing in the MHS to better understand the barriers to initiating and conducting research within the MHS. We used the survey results to create a secure online spreadsheet to match medical students to researchers recruiting student researchers. A follow-up survey was sent to all respondents 3 months after the program launch to evaluate the program. RESULTS: Of the medical students who completed the needs assessment, 82.56% (n = 71/86) reported barriers in participating in research. The most common barrier was "I don't know where to look for research opportunities." Of the staff surveyed, 88.24% (n = 15/17) indicated that they were interested in medical student involvement in their research. However, 53.33% (n = 8/15) of the surveyed staff reported that they did not know any students who would be good candidates. Since the launch in April 2021, our 3-month follow-up survey had a response rate of 40.00% (n = 6/15) for staff and 47.06% (n = 32/68) for students. Hundred percent (n = 6/6) of faculty advertising projects recruited at least one student to join their project. 85.71% (n = 12/14) of students actively seeking participation joined a research team. CONCLUSIONS: Our novel research collaboration program successfully connected military medical students with active researchers in the MHS. Leaders in medical education can consider adopting this framework to improve trainee participation in research.

Mechanisms to increase cascade testing in hereditary breast and ovarian cancer: Impact of introducing standardized communication aids into genetic counseling.

AIM: Precancer identification of women with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) could prevent 20% of these ovarian cancers. The objective was to determine whether standardized Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered (FORCE) materials are acceptable, improve knowledge of HBOC and increase disclosure to family members. METHODS: A prospective cohort of women with breast or ovarian cancer was identified prior to genetic testing. Subjects completed a baseline knowledge survey and were provided three communication aids. Knowledge, acceptability and communication to family members were reassessed at 6 months and compared to a retrospective cohort who had undergone genetic testing for breast or ovarian cancer prior to the intervention. The primary outcome was increase in HBOC knowledge, requiring 20 pre- and postknowledge scores to detect a 10% difference. RESULTS: Forty women were enrolled. The median age at cancer diagnosis was 50 years and 55% had a family history of breast or ovarian cancer. Though subjects found the resources acceptable, knowledge scores did not improve after their use. Disclosure rates were of no different between cohorts (83% preintervention vs 77% postintervention, P = 0.26) though there was an increase in deleterious mutation carriers, 0% (0/6) preintervention vs 100% (22/22) postintervention. Rates of subsequent testing in relatives were low in both preintervention and postintervention cohorts (0% vs 4.5%). CONCLUSION: Inclusion of standardized communication tools is acceptable to patients. Knowledge did not improve after their use. In deleterious mutation carriers, disclosure rates increased postintervention.

Are ethnic and racial minority women less likely to participate in clinical trials?

OBJECTIVES: Given the disparity that exists in enrollment of minorities to oncology clinical trials, the objective of our study was to assess whether race is associated with willingness to participate in gynecologic oncology clinical trials in a rural Southern academic medicine setting. Our secondary aim was to determine whether willingness to participate is impacted by an educational intervention. METHODS: A single institution prospective survey study was performed at an academic medical center. Women presenting to the gynecologic oncology clinic with a current or prior diagnosis of gynecologic malignancy were approached to participate. The validated Attitudes to Randomized Trials Questionnaire (ARTQ) assessed willingness to participate in clinical trials. Relevant demographic and clinical data were abstracted. Characteristics were compared between those willing and unwilling to participate in clinical trials with a chi-square test for categorical variables and Wilcoxon rank sum tests for continuous data. RESULTS: We enrolled 156 participants (50% White, 50% non-White) from May 2017 to January 2018. The minority group included 35% non-Hispanic Black, 9% Hispanic, 4% Asian, and 2% other. Median age was 63 years with endometrial cancer being the most common diagnosis (48%). On initial screen, only 35% were willing to participate in a clinical trial. Willingness to participate did not differ between race, age, marital status, education level, cancer type, stage, or mode of treatment. Rates improved to 82% after being provided additional educational information. Following education, White women and those with more education were significantly more willing to participate in clinical trials than their minority and less educated counterparts. CONCLUSIONS: Willingness to participate improved among all sub-categories following an educational intervention. The increase in willingness was less robust among racial and ethnic minorities, suggesting that different tools are needed for recruitment of minorities to gynecologic oncology clinical trials.