Parma E Montufar Wright, Patrice M Hicks, Elise V Mike, Mikhayla L Armstrong, Osama Ahmed, Bennie Jeng, Stephanie Marioneaux, Fasika Woreta, Maria A Woodward
{"title":"Impact of a Mentoring Program in Cornea: Findings from a Qualitative Study of Participants.","authors":"Parma E Montufar Wright, Patrice M Hicks, Elise V Mike, Mikhayla L Armstrong, Osama Ahmed, Bennie Jeng, Stephanie Marioneaux, Fasika Woreta, Maria A Woodward","doi":"10.1097/ICO.0000000000003901","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>A cornea mentorship program aims to increase the number of underrepresented in medicine physicians pursuing cornea fellowships in ophthalmology. This study evaluates participant demographics, career facilitators and barriers, and the program's impact.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Participants from the 2022 and 2023 cornea mentorship program cohorts completed an anonymous survey assessing demographics, motivations for participation, and mentorship in ophthalmology. They were also invited to participate in semistructured interviews exploring barriers and facilitators to a career in ophthalmology. Survey responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics, whereas interview transcripts were examined for thematic content, classifying sentiments as facilitators or barriers.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Of 12 participants, 10 completed the survey and 7 were interviewed. Four main themes emerged: 1) institution-home institution/residency program; 2) mentoring-aspects of mentorship; 3) personal-traits, support systems, and identities; 4) programs-extracurricular ophthalmology programs. Among 133 quotes, personal life was the most frequently cited barrier (35 citations, 26%) hindering participants' pathways to medical school and an ophthalmology career, whereas mentoring was the leading facilitator (29 citations, 22%) supporting their progress. Programs were solely cited as facilitators (16 citations, 12%). Notably, 100% of participants who graduated from residency are cornea fellows.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Participants reported personal life as the most frequent barrier and mentoring as the most frequent facilitator to a career in medicine. Mentorship and pathway programs were crucial to success. The cornea mentorship program effectively encouraged underrepresented in medicine residents to pursue cornea fellowships, underscoring the need for continued diversity initiatives in ophthalmology.</p>","PeriodicalId":10710,"journal":{"name":"Cornea","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Cornea","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1097/ICO.0000000000003901","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"OPHTHALMOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Purpose: A cornea mentorship program aims to increase the number of underrepresented in medicine physicians pursuing cornea fellowships in ophthalmology. This study evaluates participant demographics, career facilitators and barriers, and the program's impact.
Methods: Participants from the 2022 and 2023 cornea mentorship program cohorts completed an anonymous survey assessing demographics, motivations for participation, and mentorship in ophthalmology. They were also invited to participate in semistructured interviews exploring barriers and facilitators to a career in ophthalmology. Survey responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics, whereas interview transcripts were examined for thematic content, classifying sentiments as facilitators or barriers.
Results: Of 12 participants, 10 completed the survey and 7 were interviewed. Four main themes emerged: 1) institution-home institution/residency program; 2) mentoring-aspects of mentorship; 3) personal-traits, support systems, and identities; 4) programs-extracurricular ophthalmology programs. Among 133 quotes, personal life was the most frequently cited barrier (35 citations, 26%) hindering participants' pathways to medical school and an ophthalmology career, whereas mentoring was the leading facilitator (29 citations, 22%) supporting their progress. Programs were solely cited as facilitators (16 citations, 12%). Notably, 100% of participants who graduated from residency are cornea fellows.
Conclusions: Participants reported personal life as the most frequent barrier and mentoring as the most frequent facilitator to a career in medicine. Mentorship and pathway programs were crucial to success. The cornea mentorship program effectively encouraged underrepresented in medicine residents to pursue cornea fellowships, underscoring the need for continued diversity initiatives in ophthalmology.
期刊介绍：
For corneal specialists and for all general ophthalmologists with an interest in this exciting subspecialty, Cornea brings together the latest clinical and basic research on the cornea and the anterior segment of the eye. Each volume is peer-reviewed by Cornea''s board of world-renowned experts and fully indexed in archival format. Your subscription brings you the latest developments in your field and a growing library of valuable professional references.
Sponsored by The Cornea Society which was founded as the Castroviejo Cornea Society in 1975.
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
京公网安备 11010802042870号
