SHM Converge Scientific Abstract ePoster Gallery-Effectiveness of Urm Mentorship Platform in Promoting Scholarship

Pdf Summary

This study evaluated the effectiveness of the URM Mentorship Platform at the Medical College of Wisconsin, a peer mentoring program designed to connect underrepresented minority (URM) medical students with peers and faculty to support scholarly activity. Because URM students often feel underprepared for scholarship due to limited mentorship, the program aimed to increase research productivity and networking opportunities.<br /><br />A Qualtrics survey was emailed to 22 students who had participated in the program; 12 responded, yielding a 55% response rate. Most respondents were peer mentors (75%) and were in their second year of medical school. Over half had participated in a scholarly project funded by the Kern Institute.<br /><br />Results were largely positive. Most respondents reported feeling supported by their peer mentor (83.33%), while fewer felt supported by faculty members (58.33%). Three-quarters said the program met or exceeded expectations for promoting scholarship, and 91.67% felt it increased their scholarly productivity. Participants also noted benefits such as stronger networking and increased access to mentorship. Of the respondents, 83.33% had projects accepted for national meetings, though only 66.67% ultimately presented.<br /><br />Suggested improvements included expanding the program to include more students, creating more structured student-faculty interactions, and diversifying mentor-mentee pairings across class years.<br /><br />Overall, the findings suggest that peer mentoring can meaningfully support scholarship and professional development for URM medical students. The authors conclude that similar mentoring platforms may help promote equity and improve access to academic opportunities at other institutions, though the small sample size is a limitation.

Asset Subtitle

Devesh Kumar

Meta Tag

Author List Abdul-Rahman K. Abdel-Reheem, Devesh Kumar, Gifty D. Marfowaa, Pinky Jha

Category Innovations

Concept URM Mentorship Platform

Concept Program Effectiveness

Concept Mentorship

Concept Scholarly Productivity

Concept Peer support

Distinguished Non-Finalist

Presenter Organization Medical College of Wisconsin

Presenting Author Devesh Kumar

Track Quality Improvement

Keywords

URM mentorship

peer mentoring

medical students

scholarly activity

research productivity

faculty support

networking opportunities

underrepresented minority

professional development

equity in medical education

URM Mentorship Platform

Program Effectiveness

Mentorship

Scholarly Productivity

Peer support