Establishing Effective Mentoring Networks: Rationale and Strategies.

INTRODUCTION: Mentoring networks constitute an effective mentoring model in academic medicine and significantly add to the traditional dyadic mentor-mentee relationship. There is an unmet educational need for medical faculty to recognize the importance and characteristics of effective mentoring networks and to develop tools and strategies to appraise and construct strong, individualized mentoring networks. METHODS: An interactive educational session on developmental mentoring networks for physicians and scientists in an academic environment was designed. This session can be presented as part of a series on mentoring topics or as a stand-alone module. RESULTS: Using preassigned readings and a mentoring network mapping exercise, participants were able to describe their current mentoring relationships and identify strengths and opportunities for enhancing their effectiveness. CONCLUSION: A structured educational session is a useful approach towards advancing the ability of academic mentors to help create optimally effective mentoring networks. The learning environment is enhanced by the interactive nature of the session when used in an interdisciplinary cohort of faculty participants.

The development, implementation, and assessment of an innovative faculty mentoring leadership program.

Effective mentoring is an important component of academic success. Few programs exist to both improve the effectiveness of established mentors and cultivate a multispecialty mentoring community. In 2008, in response to a faculty survey on mentoring, leaders at Brigham and Women's Hospital developed the Faculty Mentoring Leadership Program as a peer learning experience for midcareer and senior faculty physician and scientist mentors to enhance their skills and leadership in mentoring and create a supportive community of mentors. A planning group representing key administrative, educational, clinical, and research mentorship constituencies designed the nine-month course.Participants met monthly for an hour and a half during lunchtime. Two cofacilitators engaged the diverse group of 16 participants in interactive discussions about cases based on the participants' experiences. While the cofacilitators discussed with the participants the dyadic mentor-mentee relationship, they specifically emphasized the value of engaging multiple mentors and establishing mentoring networks. In response to postsession and postcourse (both immediately and after six months) self-assessments, participants reported substantive gains in their mentoring confidence and effectiveness, experienced a renewed sense of enthusiasm for mentoring, and took initial steps to build a diverse network of mentoring relationships.In this article, the authors describe the rationale, design, implementation, assessment, and ongoing impact of this innovative faculty mentoring leadership program. They also share lessons learned for other institutions that are contemplating developing a similar faculty mentoring program.