A survey of dermatology residency program directors' views on mentorship.

Background: It is increasingly recognized that mentoring is important in the career development of resident physicians. The purpose of the study was to determine the views of residency Program Directors on mentorship through a cross sectional survey.

Methods: Respondents included program directors of academic dermatology departments in the United States.

Results: Fifty-three of 108 program directors completed an on-line survey (response rate 49%). Eighty-one percent of respondents indicated that mentorship played a 'somewhat' or 'very important' role in their own career development and a similar proportion considered it important for residents to have mentors. Fifty percent of program directors identified a need for more structured mentorship within the residency program. Compared to male program directors, a greater proportion of female program directors stated that mentorship played a very important role in their career development (89% vs. 36%, p=0.007) and a lesser proportion stated that it was important for female dermatology residents to specifically have access to female mentors (11.1% vs. 67.4%, p=0.003).

Conclusions: Program Directors viewed mentoring as an important resource for their residents' professional development. A need was identified for additional strategies to help residents find mentors.