From Recruitment to Belonging: A Multidimensional Mentoring Program for Underrepresented in Medicine (URiM) Residents.

Abstract

Mentorship is crucial to physicians' professional development, with well-documented benefits. However, residents from backgrounds underrepresented in medicine (URiM) often face barriers to accessing high-quality mentorship. Despite this gap, few structured programs exist that deliberately tackle these barriers, leaving an important opportunity to enhance support for URiM trainees. To design and implement a multidimensional URiM mentorship program. Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) Internal Medicine Residency. URiM residents. The core components of the URiM mentorship program are personalized dyadic pairings, mentorship communities, speed mentoring, and mentorship trainings, especially across differences. In 2024, a residency-wide mentorship survey compared the URiM Mentorship Program to the Usual Mentorship Program offered to all other residents. Of the 49 survey respondents, 31 were in the Usual Mentorship Program and 18 in the URiM Mentorship Program. In the URiM Program, 94% viewed their mentor as primary or part of their network, versus 39% in the Usual Program. Satisfaction with faculty assignments was 83% in the URiM Program compared to 48% in the Usual Program. The URiM Mentorship Program demonstrated stronger mentor-mentee connections and greater satisfaction, underscoring the benefits of a structured approach to mentorship.