General Surgery Mentorship Program
Executive Summary
The Vanderbilt General Surgery Residency Program has created a formal Mentorship Program to foster the professional and personal growth of our residents. Mentorship practices are highly variable and can be overwhelming to navigate for both mentor and mentee. This program was designed as a framework to establish and maintain productive, collaborative, and empowering mentoring partnerships at VUMC and beyond.
This program is divided into four phases: 1) Developing Partnerships, 2) Setting Expectations, 3) Implementation, and 4) Monitoring and Evaluation. Phase one involves the creation of equitable mentor-mentee pairs based on faculty interest and resident preference. Phase two focuses on educating mentors and mentees on the program, setting expectations, and providing toolkits for mentorship practices. Phase three includes implementation with compulsory quarterly meetings guided by standardized topics of discussion. Phase four promotes accountability through mandatory reporting of mentor-mentee meetings and regular program review.
As your training, practice, and academic interests progress, you may find mentor and mentees organically. We encourage you to apply the principles of this program to develop these relationships outside of this formal context!
