The JUnior Faculty Mentoring Program (JUMP): A Novel Program to Teach Early-Career Faculty to Become Mentors.

Abstract

Early-career faculty are frequently asked to mentor, yet few receive training on how to successfully mentor. The JUnior faculty Mentoring Program (JUMP) was developed to train new faculty mentors. We describe the JUMP curriculum, participant characteristics, satisfaction and confidence with mentoring, and program improvement recommendations. Over nine years (2015-2023), JUMP was offered to early-career Department of Medicine faculty. Three workshop sessions covered topics including communication, when to mentor (or not), aligning goals, and giving feedback. Participants were sent surveys before and after the program. Bivariate analyses compared 2015-2019 (earlier) and 2020-2023 (later) cohorts; content analysis examined what participants hoped to gain (pre-JUMP) and program improvement suggestions (post-JUMP). Post-JUMP survey respondents (n = 151/197, 76.6%) reported increased confidence in knowing whether to take on a mentee (99.3%), ability to be an effective mentor (98%), setting goals and expectations (98.7%), and giving effective feedback to a mentee (86.8%). A substantial majority altered their approach with a mentee as result of JUMP (82.1%). Additionally, 62.9% felt more connected to and supported by the Department of Medicine after participating in JUMP. JUMP participants reported high levels of satisfaction and survey responses informed programmatic changes to better support faculty across disciplines to become mentors.