Qualitative Evaluation of a Junior Faculty Team Mentoring Program. Am J Pharm Educ 2021 Apr;85(4):8281
Date
07/21/2021Pubmed ID
34283791Pubmed Central ID
PMC8086606DOI
10.5688/ajpe8281Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85104756658 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 5 CitationsAbstract
Objective. To investigate the strengths and challenges of a structured junior faculty mentoring program at a public four-year school of pharmacy, identify areas of opportunity to improve the program, and describe the mentoring needs of mid-career faculty.Methods. Focus groups and interviews were conducted to elicit participants' experiences, perceptions, and suggestions for opportunity to improve the program. Stakeholder groups included junior faculty enrolled in the mentoring program, mid-career faculty who had graduated from the program, mid-career faculty who had not participated in the program, internal mentors, external mentors, and division chairs. Thematic coding was used to identify semantic themes, and summaries of participant perceptions were generated. The program was mapped to the PAIRS checklist from the 2014 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Joint Council Task Force on Mentoring.Results. Participants described the structure of the program and mentee-mentor relationships as strengths of the program. Challenges included finding time to meet and ensuring mentee-mentor fit. Several areas of opportunity were identified, such as adjusting the topics for large mentee seminars, providing mentors with training, and providing mentoring for mid-career faculty. The mentoring needs of mid-career faculty were described as unique and requiring potentially different strategies than those used for mentoring junior faculty.Conclusion. Mentoring is critical to the professional development of faculty, supporting faculty retention and job satisfaction, and reducing faculty burnout. Scholarly endeavors that explore faculty mentoring, specifically those using qualitative methods, can help the Academy better understand and meet the needs of faculty.
Author List
Minshew LM, Zeeman JM, Olsen AA, Bush AA, Patterson JH, McLaughlin JEAuthor
Lana Minshew PhD Assistant Professor in the Kern Institute for Transforming Medical Education department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
Education, PharmacyFaculty, Medical
Focus Groups
Humans
Mentoring
Mentors
Program Evaluation