Purpose: To develop a surgical mentoring program for academic faculty.
Background: Many Academic Specialists in
OB/GYN experience loss of surgical skills without continued support. Surgical
coaching of OB/GYN faculty is not well studied.
Methods: A surgical mentoring program was implemented in September 2021. Faculty needs assessment identified the following: 1)formalized mechanism for surgical privileging/remediation, 2)enhanced GYN surgery mentorship for recruitment/retention of early-career faculty, and 3)feasibility for faculty to book difficult cases with Minimally Invasive GYN Surgery (MIGS).
Leadership stakeholders developed standards for voluntary mentorship versus privileging/remediation pathways. MIGS faculty developed mentoring approach and content. New faculty schedules were coordinated with mentorship blocks to fulfill privileging requirements and to allow voluntary participation for career development.
Results: Program utilization was high. All (6/6) new hires completed 5 laparoscopies. Faculty feedback noted transparency of privileging and access to future resources. Of early career surgeons, 4/5 voluntarily participated. Two mid-career surgeons booked difficult cases with mentors. Feedback included feeling support for career development and appreciating additional block time. Participants and mentors reported high satisfaction with content and logistics. Department leadership described satisfaction with objective assessment of surgical skills and program value for recruiting/retaining early-career faculty.
Discussion: A surgical mentoring program established protocols to assess surgical skills, and support Academic Specialists’ career goals. Department leadership, mentors, and participants all reported high program satisfaction. Main factor for success was support and buy-in from department leadership. Next steps are to assess quantitative improvement in surgical skills and patient safety outcomes, as well as qualitative changes in confidence and job satisfaction.
