About one-third of surgical residents lack meaningful mentorship

About one-third of residents do not report meaningful mentorship, with non-White or Hispanic residents less likely to report meaningful mentorship than non-Hispanic White residents, according to a study published online April 3 in JAMA Surgery.

Casey M. Silver, M.D., from Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Illinois, and colleagues surveyed clinically active residents in all accredited U.S. general surgery residency programs to assess factors associated with perceptions of meaningful mentorship. The survey was completed by 6,956 residents from 301 programs; 6,373 responded to all relevant questions.

The researchers found that 66.8% of those who responded to all relevant questions reported meaningful mentorship. Compared with non-Hispanic White residents, non-White or Hispanic residents were less likely to report meaningful mentorship (odds ratio [OR], 0.81). The likelihood of reporting meaningful mentorship was higher for senior residents (postgraduate year 4/5) than for interns (OR, 3.06).

Compared with those without meaningful mentorship, residents with meaningful mentorship were more likely to endorse operative autonomy (OR, 3.87) and were less likely to report burnout, thoughts of attrition, and suicidality (ORs, 0.52, 0.42, and 0.47, respectively).

"Efforts to facilitate the equitable formation of mentoring relationships in surgical residency programs are critical to the diversification of the surgical workforce," the authors write.

One author disclosed ties to OceanFirst Bank.

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