Mentor Program
Director Resident Mentorship Program |
The Neurology Resident Mentoring Program at the University of Rochester is alongitudinal 4-year experience that focuses on guiding residents in 4 key areas:
- Fellowship and career decisions
- Structured development of a scholarship project
- Defining personal and professional career goals
- Developing leadership skills
YEAR ONE
Residents receive individual and tailored mentorship during the first year by the mentorship director. Later in the year, residents complete a written assessment to identify goals, career and scholarly interests, and mentorship needs, and meet with the mentorship director to discuss. Residents are then paired with a specific mentor before the end of the PGY1 year. The role of their primary mentor is to provide guidance throughout residency, and some may also serve as their research, content, and/or subspecialty mentor. The mentor-mentee social event occurs in the spring annually for all mentor-mentee pairs.
YEAR TWO
Mentor-mentee pairs meet at least triannually to discuss progress, career goals and interests, elective selections, and scholarship projects. Toward the end of this year, mentors begin to work with mentees to begin planning for fellowship applications. Other content, project, and/or subspecialty mentors are identified. Formal updates are provided by faculty mentors.
YEAR THREE
Mentor-mentee pairs continue to meet at least quarterly to update on the fellowship process, discuss future career plans, and implement scholarship projects. Barriers to future success are also addressed. Additional content, projects, and/or subspecialty mentors are identified to bolster the mentorship team as needed. Formal updates are provided by faculty members.
YEAR FOUR
Residents are encouraged to continue their scholarship work but are also expected to be more independent and create their own timelines. Mentor-mentee pairs continue to meet regularly. The primary focus of this year is leadership and career development, with a curriculum that culminates in the creation of a structured academic development plan that the resident will initiate after completion of residency and the development and implementation of a chief resident group leadership project.
The curriculum is focused on defining core values and understanding strengths in order to define and achieve goals. Topics addressed are listed below:
- Defining Leadership
- Identifying, clarifying and prioritizing your values
- CV workshop: strengthening your CV and aligning it with your values
- Determine your personal mission and vision
- Using your time wisely and efficiently
- Developing long-term goals: deciding what you want to do with your life
- Identifying short-term goals that will lead to success
- Creation of a one-year learning contract
- Understanding your emotional intelligence
- Conflict resolution
- Effective negotiations
- Building and sustaining teams
- The work of becoming a leader
The chief resident leadership project consists of:
- Identifying objectives
- Creating an action plan
- Addressing barriers
- Implementing the project
RESEARCH MENTORSHIP
In addition to working towards career goals in years two through four, there is also a focus on developing and implementing a structured and guided scholarship project to present at the annual Schwid Resident, Fellow, and Student Research Symposium, and ideally submit as a manuscript and/or poster at a national level over the course of residency. This process is guided not only by general and research mentors but also takes advantage of the breadth of research expertise of our diverse faculty. Residents participate in a longitudinal research curriculum integrated within the academic half day, in which they will discuss the development of their projects, learn new skills, and identify resources for completing their scholarly activities. This curriculum covers the following topics:
YEAR TWO
- Finding your project and mentor
- Development of a research question
- Reviewing the literature on your topic
- Study design
- Research methods
- Proposal presentations and critiques
YEAR THREE
- IRB guidance
- Data collection
YEAR FOUR
- Statistical methods for data analysis
- Writing an abstract
- Creating a poster
- Presenting your work
- Writing a manuscript
Our structured general and research mentoring program for residents is one of the most unique and valued components of our residency!