SHM Converge Scientific Abstract ePoster Gallery-Perceptions of Junior Faculty Regarding Peer Mentoring Groups

Pdf Summary

This poster describes a pilot study of “Affinity Groups” (AGs), a peer-mentoring model created in the Division of General Internal Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin to support faculty scholarship and development.

<strong>Purpose:</strong> The authors wanted to understand junior faculty perceptions of AGs and whether participation was associated with perceived benefits in mentoring and scholarly activity.

<strong>Methods:</strong> An anonymous Qualtrics survey was sent to all assistant professors in the division. Responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics, with Fisher’s exact test for categorical comparisons.

<strong>Results:</strong> Of 85 assistant professors, 36 responded (42% response rate). Most respondents were hospitalists (26) and the rest primary care physicians (10). More than half had previously attended an AG, and attendees commonly joined groups focused on case-report writing, research, quality improvement, or medical education. Among those who attended, 67% reported personal benefit, and 72% believed AGs were important for promoting scholarship and faculty development. Faculty who attended AGs were more likely to mentor students or residents in scholarly writing than non-attendees, though this difference did not reach statistical significance.

<strong>Conclusion:</strong> Junior faculty viewed peer-mentoring affinity groups positively. The authors argue that AGs may be a cost-effective, inclusive, and practical faculty development strategy, especially for early-career faculty and institutions with limited resources. They also note that broader, longitudinal studies are needed to better evaluate the long-term effectiveness of this model across different settings and specialties.

Asset Subtitle

Trisha Jethwa

Meta Tag

Author List Pinky Jha, Sanjay Bhandari, Trisha Jethwa

Category Research

Concept Peer Mentoring Affinity Group

Concept Junior Faculty Development

Concept Scholarship

Concept Leader Engagement

Concept Mentoring role

Distinguished Non-Finalist

Presenter Organization Medical College of Wisconsin

Presenting Author Trisha Jethwa

Track Education

Keywords

affinity groups

peer mentoring

faculty development

junior faculty

scholarship

medical education

quality improvement

research mentoring

pilot study

general internal medicine

Peer Mentoring Affinity Group

Junior Faculty Development

Scholarship

Leader Engagement

Mentoring role