Finding the path together.

Are you a mentor? Do you have one? Do you think you need one? I recently attended a joint meeting of the Section of Medical Students, Section of Residents, and First Five Years in Practice Committee. When asked who had a mentor, most attendees raised their hands. This was a surprise to many in attendance. The Canadian Association of Internes and Residents 2013 National Resident Survey indicated that 31.5% of respondents did not have mentors.1 Although the 2012 National Physician Survey of Residents and Students did not specifically ask this question, it did ask whether or not the respondents were satisfied with the mentorship available to them in their programs. Of the family medicine residents, 76.7% indicated that they were satisfied or very satisfied with the mentorship in their program; 70.5% of medical students indicated the same.2 Further discussion during the joint meeting of students, residents, and new practitioners highlighted a substantial variation in what having a mentor meant to them. Most of the students who had mentors had had them assigned by their faculties of medicine. Many of the residents identified their family medicine preceptors or faculty advisors as the mentors assigned by their programs. A few identified their own mentors or role models during their training. The authors of a Canadian Association of Internes and Residents position paper on mentoring in June of 2013 cited Berk and colleagues’ definition of mentorship3: