When You Have More Junior Hospitalists Than Fish in the Sea: Creating Mentorship Programming for All Practice Settings-Slides

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This presentation by Drs. Julie K. Schaefer and Annie Massart discusses the importance and implementation of mentorship programs in hospital medicine, a relatively young and rapidly growing specialty. The objectives emphasize recognizing mentorship’s positive impacts on professional development, career satisfaction, and retention among hospitalists. Mentorship enhances communication skills, personal wellbeing, confidence, professional networking, innovation, and pipeline building, especially benefiting academic hospitalists through improved promotion, grant funding, publications, and teaching skills.<br /><br />Various mentorship models are described, including traditional dyads, peer mentorship, group mentorship, reverse mentorship, clinical coaching, and informal mentorship “moments.” The program at HealthPartners Regions Hospital serves as a model, featuring a flexible, opt-in, two-year commitment supporting individualized career development. Mentor and mentee roles involve regular meetings, goal-setting, CV review, and communication expectations.<br /><br />Feedback from mentees highlights benefits such as career guidance, increased confidence, integration into teams, and leadership role modeling, while mentors report challenges balancing clinical duties with mentorship time. Strategies for mentor support include workshops, peer discussion forums, faculty development, CME opportunities, and recognition at awards to foster a strong mentor community.<br /><br />Steps for building mentorship programs include conducting needs assessments, forming faculty development steering committees, and engaging faculty through retreats and surveys focused on high-yield mentorship content. The presentation advocates fostering diverse mentorship styles and training to maximize professional growth and satisfaction, thereby improving retention and academic success in hospital medicine.<br /><br />In sum, the session offers a comprehensive roadmap and practical strategies to create, maintain, and expand effective mentorship programs tailored for hospital medicine, underscoring mentorship’s critical role in developing resilient, satisfied hospitalists across various practice settings.

Keywords

mentorship programs

hospital medicine

professional development

career satisfaction

hospitalists retention

mentorship models

HealthPartners Regions Hospital

mentor-mentee roles

faculty development

academic success