Resident physician mentoring program in ophthalmology: the Tennessee experience.

OBJECTIVE To establish a mentoring program to provide resident physicians in ophthalmology with career guidance in practice management and to identify new and creative ways to involve future eye physicians in the legislative and political process. METHODS A multicenter prospective study was conducted of the mentorship experiences of 24 (88.9%) of 27 resident physicians in Tennessee during the 2000-2001 academic year. Participants were assigned into 1 of 3 groups: an active mentorship group, a passive mentorship group, and a no mentorship group. The active mentorship group participated in preceptorship activities with "mentor" community-based eye physicians and scheduled meetings with state legislators and regulators. The active mentorship and passive mentorship groups attended a 1-day practice management seminar, but the no mentorship group received no formal mentorship during the 4-month study period. A survey instrument was given to all participants before and after the 4-month study period. RESULTS Following completion of the mentorship program, the active mentorship group had favorable changes in perceptions and attitudes toward medical organizations (P<.03) when compared with baseline prementorship responses. Compared with the no mentorship group, the active mentorship group also reported an increased willingness to make political campaign donations (P<.05) and expressed an increased desire for the Tennessee Academy of Ophthalmology to offer practice management programs (P<.02). CONCLUSION A short 4-month mentorship program can elicit favorable changes in residents' perceptions and attitudes toward medical professional organizations. Additional opportunities may lie with a lengthier and more intensive mentoring program.