Impact of a Student-Run Surgery Mentorship Program: First Year Follow-Up

McKay, K. G.; Zivanov, C. N.; Kuzemchak, M. D.; Cassling, K.; Diaz, J. A.; Eastham, S. C.

Introduction: Lack of early surgical mentorship and exposure can deter medical students from pursuing careers in surgery. A student-run, longitudinal mentorship program pairing students and surgeons was initiated at our institution to address perceived barriers to surgical mentorship and concerns about surgical careers. Methods: In November 2019, an initial survey evaluating interest in surgical mentorship was distributed to all medical students at our academic institution. Interested students were paired with faculty or resident mentors based on students’ preferences. Follow-up surveys reassessing interest in surgery, access to surgical mentorship, and concerns about careers in surgery were collected between November 2020 and February 2021. Responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: Of 43 students who completed our initial survey, 32 indicated interest in general surgery and were paired with surgical mentors. Twenty-six paired students completed follow-up surveys (81% response rate). Of these 26 students, 39% reported increased interest in surgery since joining the mentorship program and 54% reported having a surgery mentor, increased from 21% of initial survey respondents. Topics most commonly discussed with mentors included career guidance (23%), research opportunities (23%), and work-life balance (27%). Barriers to mentorship included time constraints of mentees and mentors (46%), COVID-19 (8%), and lack of mentor-mentee communication (8%). Mentorship program impact on perceptions of a surgical career varied (Figure). Conclusion: A student-led mentorship program can improve medical students’ access to surgical mentors, which might increase interest in surgery. However, more work is needed to address common concerns about a surgical career. [Formula presented]