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Implementing Personal Mentoring in an Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency Program—3-Year Evaluation

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Abstract

Objective

To empower residents-in-training through personal mentorship from a senior physician who dedicates time and guidance to their personal development and provides professional and emotional support.

Methods

A structured model of personal mentoring for residents was designed and implemented in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology. The process was assessed by a special-purpose survey constructed and reviewed by established medical mentors. The survey examined residents’ attitudes towards personal aspects associated with their residency. The questionnaires were filled out anonymously before launching and 1 and 3 years after initiating the personal mentoring process.

Results

The residents’ reports showed a distinct trend of increased positive attitudes towards the personal mentoring throughout the process. The residents reported on an improvement in the mentors’ availability to address personal aspects within the mentoring relationship (empathy, emotional support in deliberations, career guidance, etc.). The general satisfaction with the residency program improved as well.

Conclusions

Mentoring is a significant element in a comprehensive, multi-dimensional process. Integrating personal mentoring into a residency program, with the focus on interpersonal relational characteristics as empathy, availability, open communication, and guidance, led to improvements in residents’ professional development and skills. They also received optimal support and guidance in their professional careers and personal deliberations.

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Acknowledgments

The authors express their gratitude to Ms. Dalia Dawn Orkin for her important English language contributions and editing services.

Availability of Data and Materials

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Meir Medical Center, 44281, Kfar Saba, Israel

    Ami Fishman & Tal Biron-Shental

  2. Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Ami Fishman & Tal Biron-Shental

  3. Institute for Drug Research, Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel

    Ron Kenett

Authors
  1. Ami Fishman
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  2. Ron Kenett
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  3. Tal Biron-Shental
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Contributions

RK, TBS, and AF contributed to conception and design, analysis, and interpretation of data; drafting the article and revising it critically for important intellectual content; and final approval of the version to be published.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ami Fishman.

Ethics declarations

Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate

The Institutional Ethics Committee approved the survey (MMC #014214).

Competing Interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Fishman, A., Kenett, R. & Biron-Shental, T. Implementing Personal Mentoring in an Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency Program—3-Year Evaluation. Med.Sci.Educ. 30, 293–297 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-019-00902-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-019-00902-2

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