Mentoring for Subspecialty Training Program Directors: An Unrecognized, Unmet Need?

Background The benefits of mentoring residents have been studied, but there is no research about mentoring new program directors. Program directors' responsibilities have become increasingly complicated, and they may not be adequately prepared for their role at the time of appointment without the benefit of mentoring that is specific to their new role. Objective To assess whether nephrology subspecialty program directors were specifically mentored and whether they felt prepared for the educational and administrative aspects of this role. Methods We conducted an electronic needs assessment survey of the nephrology subspecialty program directors through the American Society of Nephrology listserv for program directors. Results The survey response rate was 42% (58 of 139). Of the respondents, 58% did not feel adequately prepared when they first became subspecialty program directors, and only 32% reported having formal or informal mentoring for the role. Individuals who had served as associate program directors (34%) were more likely to report mentoring than those who had not (P = .02). Eighty percent of respondents reported that mentoring from another nephrology program director would have been beneficial during their first several years. Conclusions This appears to be the first study specifically evaluating mentoring experiences relevant to the role of nephrology program director. As a result of this survey, the American Society of Nephrology Training Program Director Executive Committee recognized the need to provide opportunities for mentoring new nephrology program directors and formed a New Training Program Director Training and Mentoring Work Group to recommend initiatives for mentoring and training new program directors. Further investigation is needed to assess whether mentoring benefits subspecialty program directors and whether these findings can be generalized to other specialties and subspecialties.

Subspeciality training in hematology and oncology, 2003: results of a survey of training program directors conducted by the American Society of Hematology

A survey of directors of adult and pediatric hematology/oncology subspecialty training programs in the United States and Canada was conducted to assess the environment in which recruitment and training is conducted in these medical disciplines. A total of 107 program directors responded to the survey, representing 66% of internal medicine and 47% of pediatric subspecialty programs in hematology or hematology/oncology. Specific areas covered in the web-based questionnaire included the type and demographics of the training program, profile of the training program director, characteristics of the applicant pool and existing trainee recruits, characteristics of the training program environment and curricula, research productivity of trainees, and the career pathways taken by recent training program graduates (including dominant areas of clinical interest). The results of this survey show considerable heterogeneity in the recruiting practices and the environment in which subspecialty training occurs, leading the authors to recommend improvements in or a heightened attention to issues, including recruitment of minority trainees, flexibility to recruit international medical school graduates, timing of trainee acceptance, maintaining the financial support of Medicare graduation medical education (GME), training of physician scientists, organization of the continuity clinic experience, visibility of nonmalignant hematology as a career path, and level of training program director support. (Blood. 2004;103:4383-4388)