Georgia Tech Junior Faculty DoD/DOE Proposal Panel

Mentoring continues to be a salient conversation in academia among junior and senior faculty and administrators. Mentors provide guidance and structure to junior faculty so that they can meet their academic and professional goals. Mentors also convey skills in balancing life and academic pursuits. Therefore, the purpose of this descriptive study was to provide additional insight from a training program called Leading Emerging and Diverse Scientists to Success (LEADS) regarding successful strategies and challenges of mentoring relating to lessons learned from the scholars and mentees’ perspective. The LEADS program provided multiple training platforms to increase skills and knowledge regarding research to promote expertise in grant writing and submission for funding opportunities among diverse scientists. These findings reinforce the knowledge about the value of a mentor in helping define the research pathway of their mentee and underscoring the importance of mentoring.

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Using a Learning Coach to Develop Family Medicine Residents' Goal-Setting and Reflection Skills

Journal of Graduate Medical Education ◽

10.4300/jgme-d-12-00276.1 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. 289-293 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Paul George ◽

Shmuel Reis ◽

Margaret Dobson ◽

Melissa Nothnagle

Keyword(s):

Family Medicine ◽

Rhode Island ◽

Goal Setting ◽

Personal Development ◽

Junior Faculty ◽

Learning Goals ◽

Junior Faculty Member ◽

Self Directed Learning ◽

Protected Time ◽

Learning Coach

Abstract Background Self-directed learning (SDL) skills, such as self-reflection and goal setting, facilitate learning throughout a physician's career. Yet, residents do not often formally engage in these activities during residency. Intervention To develop resident SDL skills, we created a learning coach role for a junior faculty member to meet with second-year residents monthly to set learning goals and promote reflection. Methods The study was conducted from 2008–2010 at the Brown Family Medicine Residency in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. During individual monthly meetings with the learning coach, residents entered their learning goals and reflections into an electronic portfolio. A mixed-methods evaluation, including coach's ratings of goal setting and reflection, coach's meeting notes, portfolio entries, and resident interviews, was used to assess progress in residents' SDL abilities. Results Coach ratings of 25 residents' goal-setting ability increased from a mean of 1.9 to 4.6 (P < .001); ratings of reflective capacity increased from a mean of 2.0 to 4.7 (P < .001) during each year. Resident portfolio entries showed a range of domains for goal setting and reflection. Resident interviews demonstrated progressive independence in setting goals and appreciation of the value of reflection for personal development. Conclusions Introducing a learning coach, use of a portfolio, and providing protected time for self-reflected learning allowed residents to develop SDL skills at their own pace. The learning coach model may be applicable to other residency programs in developing resident lifelong learning skills.

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