Mentoring in psychiatric residency programs: a survey of chief residents.
OBJECTIVE
Mentorship is an important component of graduate education. This study assessed the perceptions of general psychiatry chief residents regarding the adequacy of mentorship provided during training.


METHODS
The authors surveyed 229 chief residents participating in the APA National Chief Residents Leadership Program in 2004 and 2005. The survey assessed domains such as work hours, didactics, home and family life, and mentorship.


RESULTS
Of the chief psychiatric residents surveyed, 49% reported that they did not have a clearly defined career development mentor, and 39% reported that they did not feel adequately mentored. Gender, race/ethnicity, marital status, moonlighting, medical school (American versus international), and type of residency program (academic versus community based) did not show significant association with either "having a clearly defined mentor" or "feeling adequately mentored," based on chi-squared tests for independence. Chief residents who had authored peer-reviewed publications were significantly more likely to report having a clearly defined mentor and to feel adequately mentored than those who did not author publications. Logistic regression analysis showed that having a clearly defined mentor was associated with twice the odds for feeling well prepared to practice psychiatry upon graduation compared with those who did not have a clearly defined mentor, even after controlling for gender, race, medical school, and residency program type.


CONCLUSIONS
Half of the psychiatric chief residents surveyed reported the lack of a clearly defined career development mentor. In addition, a chief resident's response of lacking a clear mentor was associated with the perception of being less prepared to practice psychiatry upon graduation. Psychiatric residency training programs may benefit from further clarification and implementation of effective mentorship programs.
Lis
Lea DeFrancisci
LD
Child Psychiatry, NY University Child Study Center, 577 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA. leadefrancisci@gmail.com
Wood
William C
WC
Petkova
Eva
E
Shatkin
Jess
J
D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D008297:Male; D008611:Mentors; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000193:education*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires