A Novel Coach-Approach to Clinical Faculty Mentoring and the UW Department of Medicine Clinical Faculty Development Program

BackgroundClinical faculty at academic health centers may benefit from specific mentorship and proficiencies that are distinct from those on research tracks. We describe the creation, activities, and one-year impact of a faculty development program that included novel professional coaching training (the Clinical Faculty Mentoring Program, CFMP) which was supplemented by skills- and knowledge-building activities (the Clinical Faculty Development Series, CFDS). MethodsThe goals and components of the CFMP and CFDS are described in detail. A mixed methods evaluation plan guided collection of confidential survey and interview data before and after the first year of these activities. We used paired t-tests to identify statistically significant changes. ResultsThe 43 clinical mentors reported significant gains in job satisfaction, teaching attitudes, knowledge of mentorship competencies, and confidence with coaching skills for mentorship (all p<0.05). Of mentor respondents, 88% found the coach approach to mentoring program to be "very" or "somewhat" helpful. Coaching behavioral domains with the greatest evidence of improvement were supporting the mentee to integrate new awareness, insight, learning into their worldview and behaviors (p=0.0503) and managing time and focus of mentoring sessions (p=0.022). All 37 mentees had at least one meeting with a mentor (100%). Over 9 months, 39 virtual CFDS sessions had an average participation of 38 participants (range 22-59). A majority of surveyed faculty (>55%) agreed or strongly agreed the CFDS sessions provided valuable opportunities for skills development with teaching, leadership, wellness, diversity, equity, inclusion, and promotion. ConclusionsAmong clinical mentors, our novel coach approach to clinical faculty mentoring and skill-building had favorable effects on job satisfaction, knowledge of mentorship competencies, and confidence in coaching skills. Outcomes from the clinical faculty development series supported the mentoring program outcomes. Longitudinal follow-up is needed to determine how this program will impact mentees.