Exploring Race, Racism, and Structural Racism in Medicine.

Race and racism are rooted in the man-made belief that the color of a person's skin determines a person's hierarchal rank in humanity. Early scientific theories of polygenics and misleading scientific studies were used to promote the concept of the inferiority of people of color and to support and maintain the institution of slavery. These discriminatory practices have filtered into society as structural racism, including the field of medicine. Structural racism has led to health disparities in black and brown communities. Dismantling structural racism requires us all to become change agents at societal and institutional levels.

Mentee Assessment of Mentoring Competencies at an Academic Health Sciences Center.

The Oklahoma Center for Mentoring Excellence (OCME) initiated faculty workshops to enhance their mentoring skills and establish an intercampus network for faculty specializing in clinical and biomedical sciences. The initial importance of mentoring competencies based on early career faculty members' perception and experience had not yet been determined. The Mentoring Competency Assessment validated by Fleming et al. (2013b) was used to rate the perceived importance of competencies and assess senior faculty members' competencies using a seven-point range, Likert-type response scale. Responses were analyzed by presence or absence of a mentor, previous formal mentor training, sex, and health science discipline. Junior faculty (n = 144) rated each competency as important or greater across all categories. A majority (70%) reported not having a current mentor. Junior faculty with current mentors rated senior faculty competencies higher than junior faculty without; participation in formal mentor training as well as a clinical faculty appointment were independently associated with higher assessment scores. This study identifies specific population characteristics that may serve to enhance the effectiveness of OCME workshops and demonstrates that junior faculty identify mentoring as significantly important in their academic career success in a research and clinical health setting.