• Lisa M Harris, Elyse Fiore Pierre, Nofisat Almaroof, and Francesca M Cimino.
• Department of Family Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD.
• Fam Med. 2023 Oct 1; 55 (9): 607611607-611.

Background And ObjectivesMentorship is critical to physician recruitment, career development, and retention. Many underrepresented in medicine (URiM) physicians experience minority taxes that can undermine their professional objectives. Use of cross-cultural mentoring skills to navigate differences between non-URiM and URiM physicians can make mentorship relationships with URiM physicians more effective. This survey examined military family physician demographics and mentorship practices.MethodsDesign and Setting: Cross-sectional study using voluntary, anonymous data from the 2021 Uniformed Services Academy of Family Physicians (USAFP) Annual Meeting Omnibus Survey.Study PopulationUSAFP Members attending 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting.InterventionNone.Statistical AnalysisDescriptive statistics and χ2 tests.ResultsThe response rate to the omnibus survey was 52.9%, n=258. More than half of respondents did not have a URiM mentee and had not collaborated with a URiM colleague on a scholarly activity within the last 3 years. Only 54.7% of respondents could recognize and address minority taxes. URiM physicians were more likely to have a URiM mentee (65.4% vs 44.4%, P=.042) and to recognize and address minority taxes (84.6% vs 51.3%, P=.001). They also were more confident (84.6% vs 60.3%, P=.015) and more skilled in discussing racism (80.8% vs 58.2%, P=.026).ConclusionsStructured programs are needed to improve knowledge and skills to support cross-cultural mentorship. Additional studies are needed to further evaluate and identify implementation strategies.

23 keywords...

hide…